You Are My
by Wulfkub
Summary: Don't kill me for the slow set up, I am trying to figure out a scene in a certain Pensive that Harry stuck his nose into without turning James into a bully and Severus into a total git...character motivations and all. Plus, I have some Maurader ideas tha
1. The Future

_Disclaimer - I don't own the Potterverse. If I did, I would be living in England right now, expecting my third child and writing my 6th book. I am just borrowing JKR's characters and settings for a little play time and I promise faithfully that a.) I am not going to make money off this and b.) I will put all JKR's toys back in the box when I am through._

_Author's Notes: Second fan fic (never finished the first one, school got so in the way but I will endeavor to do better on this one) so be nice and R&R. If you want to post it somewhere, get permission please. In this chapter, aka the prologue, anything in the story in italics are JKR's words from The Prisoner of Azkaban from pages 179 and 240 (American Edition). _

"James! Oh god, James, please pick up the damn mirror!" Sirius screamed into the mirror in his hand as he climbed onto his motorbike, holding it in front of him, tears streaming down his face as he jammed the keys into the ignition. Scarcely paying attention to what he was doing, he kicked the bike to life and lifted off immediately, not caring if a hundred muggles saw the bike flying in the air and his wand was snapped in half because of it. "Please, James, please, Voldemort knows!"

A little earlier, at Godric's Hollow, Lily and James had just put baby Harry down for bed and turned to each other with a grin at their success for it wasn't often that Harry went to bed without a bit of a fight. Well, a bit might be an understatement, to say the least. Not that either of them minded it, they adored their son, even if he could be a handful at times. James took Lily's hand and led her out the door, closing it quietly behind him, "You know, love, Harry is going to age me before my time. Did you see him playing with the fire earlier?"  
  
Lily grinned up at her husband, flipping a stray strand of red hair over her shoulder, and smiled fondly at her husband, "He is worse than you were at that age?" She giggled, that low sensuous sound that James could never get enough of, "Not the way your parents tell it, is it?"  
  
James grinned back at her and opened his mouth to reply when he heard something, something muffled, coming from downstairs. Putting a hand across Lily's lips to prevent her from speaking, he motioned for her to stay put while he walked, cat foot quiet, towards the stairs, listening for all that he was worth. Surely not was the thought flitting through both their minds as James eased his way down the stairs while Lily watched from the top, fear crawling up their throats. As James got down to the last five steps, he paused to take out his wand, glancing up to see that Lily had done the same, before going the rest of the way down. Tension showed in every line of his body and he worked his way into the dining room where the sound was clearer.  
  
James stopped dead in his tracks, his heart in his throat, as he finally made out what the noise was; Sirius' voice, ragged from the tears and distorted from the wind, screaming at him, "He knows, James, He knows!"  
  
A shadow passing at the back door had James whirled around, yelling, "_Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off!_" He would have said more but he tripped over the chair in his path. His mind had the barest second to recognize it as Harry's baby chair before the back door burst open and Lord Voldemort filled it. Not stopping to banter, running on sheer adrenalin and reflexes, James pointed his wand at Voldemort and threw every single spell he could think of at him. A flash of blue light flared around the downstairs, only to be followed by a snake's hissing and a brilliant green light, and James fell to the floor, his last thought a desperate plea that Lily had taken Harry and run for it.  
  
Upstairs, Lily had frozen in shock at James' words. Unable to move, she stared down the stairs, her hands over her mouth. The tears started to flow as she heard _a cackle of high-pitched laughter_ but that broke her out of her paralysis. James is dead her mind screamed even as she turned and ran for Harry's room. Reaching the door, she yanked it open and was just reaching for Harry when she felt His presence behind her. "_Not Harry_," she screamed at Voldemort, defiantly whirling around to face him, "_not Harry, please not Harry!_"  
  
Voldemort stood in the doorway and grinned at Lily, scaring her even more than she already was, "_Stand aside, you silly girl._" He said lazily, pointing his wand directly at her chest, "_stand aside, now._"  
  
He would have said more, she would rather die than let him speak another word, "_Not Harry!_" All the spells she had ever learned were useless against such evil; she knew it and, more to the point, so did Voldemort. All she had left was to beg, "_please no, take me, kill me instead_." The feral grin that stretched across Voldemort's face was enough to keep her going, "_Not Harry! Please, have mercy_." A green light emanated from Voldemort's wand, he had spoken the killing curse but her screaming had drowned out the words, "_have mercy..._"


	2. A Lot of Firsts

James jerked awake, his heart pounding in his chest, shaking with cold and fright. "Damn." He whispered to himself as he willed his heart rate to slow down, flushing a little at using a word his mother would never approve of had she heard it. The blind panic that gripped him loosened a little and he found himself able to think once more. It was that dream again, a dream that made less than no sense to him for all he remembered were the emotions; agonizing love for a woman and a baby he couldn't see, cold hard determination for the woman to live, and shaking terror. Well, that wasn't quite true, he always remembered the flash of green light at the end but, thankfully, he woke up right before the light could touch him. That was the sixth time he had had that dream this month, well, the past month, he snorted to himself, glancing at the calender above his head. Today was September 1st after all...  
  
Later on that morning, at precisely 10:50 A.M., James slid through the gateway in the King's Cross Station onto Platform 9 and 3/4s. Not pausing to gawk around, even if this was his first time on the Platform, he moved out of the way quickly so that his mother and father could join him. His mother was talking as she came through the portal, "Now James, I want you to try and stay out of trouble." She reached down to smooth his hair back, a useless gesture, but stayed her hand as James flinched away.  
  
"Mother!" He replied back to her in his very best 'I am so put upon voice,' "Someone will see you doing that and I won't ever be able to live it down."  
  
His father grinned down at his son and knelt down to gather James into his arms, "You know we love you, James." He said gruffly, a man already missing his son, "And we know that you are going to get into trouble. Just try to do us proud."  
  
James returned his father's hug with interest, what with his job and all as an Auror for the Ministry of Magic, James did not get to spend that much time with his father. "I will, dad." He said softly, loath to admit that this leave-taking was harder than he thought it would be. As if sensing how close James was to tears, his father ruffled a hand through James' hair and squeezed his shoulder, "We know you will." He said simply before standing again, steeling himself to wave goodbye to his only son.  
  
Resisting the urge to fling himself into his mother's arms and howl to be taken home, James said, "Well, I guess this is it then." Picking up the handle of his trunk, he began pulling it toward the train, glancing back at his parents from the corner of his eye. His mother was white and shaking, she was not ready to loose her only child, even if it was just til December, and his father had wrapped a supporting arm about her. Unable to stand it, James dropped the trunk and ran over to where his parents stood, flinging his arms about both of them, "I love you."  
  
James would never remember clearly of how he got onto the train that day. It was just a haze of hugs and kisses and running to the train. Finally, however, he did manage to get everything aboard and stowed into the first empty compartment that he found, taking advantage of the solitude to rub his eyes on the corner of his sleeve and wipe the mist off his glasses. He sat down and looked out the window, trying very hard not to feel sorry for himself or lonely...he, at least, came from a wizarding family and knew what to expect unlike the first year Muggle born children aboard the train.  
  
Fortunately for him, just as the loneliness was starting to get to him, there was a knock on the door and it slid open to reveal a red headed girl about his age. The two of them stared at one another for a moment before she asked hesitantly, "Do you mind if I join you? Everywhere else is either full or they don't want..." She trailed off, blushing furiously and staring at the floor, obviously not willing to tell him what they had said to her face.  
  
"Please." James said, indicating that she take the empty seat. When she had seated herself, he smiled at her, "My name is James Potter and this is my first year."  
  
The girl reached across and shook his hand gravely, just as if she were an adult, "I'm Lily Evans. This is my first year too."  
  
Though James did not know it, the adult formalities the girl was using were just a front to hide her nervousness, he thought she looked perfectly at ease. That might have intimidated him into not talking to her at all but, before they could lapse into an awkward silence, there was another knock at the door and it slid open to a drawling voice, "I might have known you would be hiding out by yourself, James."  
  
James looked up at his long time friend and smiled, "Sirius." He indicated Lily with a wave of his hand and added indignantly, "I am not alone."  
  
Flopping down on the seat next to James with a boneless that would make any adult shudder, Sirius punched James lightly on the shoulder, "So I see." Turning his fathomless gray eyes onto the girl, he smiled easily, "I'm Sirius Black." He said, somewhat surprised when the girl reached out for his hand, not knowing about that particular Muggle custom.  
  
James stifled a smile as Sirius stared down at Lily's hand, obviously confused. Before he could say anything, however, Lily cocked one ruddy eyebrow at Sirius and said, "My name is Lily Evans." She withdrew her hand quickly, fisting it into her sweater, a flush of embarrassment rising on her cheeks. "I take it the two of you know each other?" She asked, her tone a trifle cooler than it had been earlier.  
  
Ignoring the nuances, Sirius grinned at the girl, once more at his ease, "We live a couple of miles apart but we don't get to see each other that often." James shot Sirius a look at his words, not sure that he wanted the new girl to know why that was which, true to form, Sirius ignored, "My parents don't like his parents all that much so it's kind of hard for us to get together but we went to the same elementary school for like ever."  
  
"I see." Lily said as Sirius wound down, not sure at all that she did see but was not willing to do anything to get herself tossed out of the compartment. Once again, she twisted her hands into her sweater, looking as if she wanted to ask the pair of them something. She hesitated and visibly steeled herself, "So, the two of you from wizarding families, then?"  
  
Both James and Sirius nodded slowly and James added, with considerable pride, "Both my parents are witch and wizard, my father works as an Auror for the Ministry of Magic and mum also works for the Ministry of Magic Department of Games and Sports." He grinned over at his friend and added, "Sirius' parents are witch and wizard also." He would have told this girl what Sirius' parents did but, truth be told, he had no idea and Sirius wasn't exactly forthcoming with that information.  
  
Lily nodded to show that she understood and glanced down at the floor, directing her next question to the maroon carpet, "So, I was wondering," she stammered slightly and flushed, still staring at the floor, "what does Mudblood mean?" As two explosive gasps reached her ears, Lily jerked her eyes back up to the two boys sitting across from her, a defensive look on her face, "There were some boys and they..." she broke off again and composed herself, "I mean, I just heard it while I was out in the hall."  
  
Sharing a quick look with Sirius who shook his head slightly, James frowned as he answered her, "Mudblood is a particularly stupid thing that the 'purebloods' like to call people from non magic families." Angry now, he clenched his fists and continued, "It's just a damned stupid thing to call someone, if you asked me or my parents."  
  
Lily looked faintly shocked at hearing an 11 year old James swear in front of her, Sirius looked mildly impressed, and Lily might have asked yet another question were they not interrupted by the door once more. The three of them looked up as one to see a girl who looked remarkably like Sirius, a tall blond haired boy, and another boy, this one with his arm wrapped around the girl's waist. "Mum and dad said that you were coming to Hogwarts this year, Sirius." The girl drawled out in a lazy voice and added with a slight sneer, "They told me to look out for you." She grinned at James then, a nasty feral grin, "My, my, it looks like I will have something to write home about already. Didn't your parents forbid you to see that blood traitor?" She pointed at James as she asked the question, leaving no doubt in anyone's mind who she was talking about.  
  
Already angry from Lily's innocent question, Bellatrix's question brought Sirius temper boiling very close to the surface, "Bellatrix," He said coldly, shaking with anger, "Get out."  
  
"Now, now, dearest cousin," her voice positively dripped poison, "Is that anyway to talk to the person who will be writing home to your parents?"  
  
Lily shrank back further into the cushions as Sirius bolted to his feet, James not half a second behind him, "Write to them, Bellatrix. See if I give a damn." Sirius ground out, advancing on his cousin with clenched fists, "Go ahead and do it. It's not like they give a damn about me or what I do."  
  
Bellatrix stared down at her small cousin, a grin playing about the corner of her lips. As Sirius advanced, both her companions moved to flank her but she stopped them with a shake of her head. Leaning down, she stuck her nose right into Sirius' face and hissed, "We will see, my darling cousin." Raising herself once more, she lifted an imperious eyebrow at James and sneered, "So sticky sweet, little Jamie Rotter backing up a looser like my cousin." The two boys with her laughed at her comment and she caught sight of Lily for the first time, recognizing her from earlier, "Really Sirius, not only are you hanging out with the Rotter there but with a Mudblood as well? Tut, tut, your parents will be so pleased." With that last bit of sarcasm and warning, Bellatrix swept her superiority about her like a cloak and left the compartment, her two companions shadowing her.  
  
Sirius reached out and slammed the door impotently behind his cousin, trying to block out the hateful sounds of their laughter floating back down the hall to their ears. It was his turn to stare down at the carpet, breathing hard, as he ground out, "Sorry about that, James, Lily." He let out a bitter laugh, "I guess you..." He trailed off, not sure what to say and too angry to think of anything to say.  
  
Lily and James stared at one another, Lily with an aghast look in her brilliant green eyes and James still showing his anger. As Lily broke off eye contact and excused herself from the compartment, saying that she needed to change into her robes. Left alone, the two boys sat in silence, each of them wishing, in their own way, that the floor would swallow them both...

* * *

Writer response to reviews...

_From: samber( ) pretty good for starters. But I think you just copied it from the book._

Well, Samber, like I said, the bits in italics are lifted straight from the books but, seeing as how JKR has not actually described what happened in GH in any of the books (other than a bit of conversation and a general feel for what happened), I could hardly copy it. Like I said, that is just my vision of what happened...which is probably wrong anyway. But, hey, thanks for reading and reviewing...


	3. The Sorting Ceremony

Professor McGonagall was waiting for them as the first years climbed the steps to the entrance of the castle. As James put a foot on the last stair, a crash of thunder rended the air and the skies, which had been threatening rain all day, opened up on the students. Dismayed shrieks filled the air as the students stampeded towards the door and McGonagall, being no one's fool, got out of their way. As soon as the students were settled, McGonagall introduced herself and explained about the Houses, a speech that James and Sirius as well as the other children of wizarding families mostly ignored in favor of checking out their surrounding and classmates.

Finishing her speech, Professor McGonagall excused herself for a moment to check on something and the students stood around, whispering to one another. More shrieks from the girls filled the air as the House ghosts put in an appearance only to be quickly stifled at the ghosts' cheery greetings and the reappearance of Professor McGonagall. Leading them into the Great Hall, she had them line up in front of the dais where the Sorting Hat sat, awaiting another set of newcomers. Sirius and James shared a grin, watching the other students as the Hat began its song, singing of the history of Hogwarts and the four Houses. Without meaning to, James glanced up at the ceiling and was transfixed, the night sky seemingly opened to the heavens. He flinched into Sirius as a raindrop made a beeline for his head and Sirius shoved him back, hissing, "Watch it, mate."

The shove from Sirius was harder than Sirius had meant it to be and James staggered into the boy next to him. Startled, the boy turned and glared at James, black eyes flashing dangerously, as James apologized in a quiet whisper. Drawing his dignity about him like a cloak, he looked down his hooked nose at James and deliberately snubbed him, turning his back on him. James felt a surge of irrational anger but quelled it as McGonagall called the first student up onto the dais; Avery, Robert.

As Avery pulled the Sorting Hat onto his head, James stared eagerly at the boy. His father's explanations and descriptions were nothing on the real thing at all and James was very interested now. The Hat seemed to whisper something into Avery's ear before shouting out to the room at large, "Slytherin." Applause broke out from the table where the Slytherins ate and Avery, flushing a little, pulled the Hat off his head and went to join his new Housemates.

The dry tones of Professor McGonagall filled the air once more, "Black, Sirius." James felt a change in the air at her words; Sirius had gone rigid for a second before shrugging and strolling up to the dais. Out of the corner of his eye, James saw two girls standing up at the Slytherin table, Bellatrix and Narcissa, to get a better view. The Hat took a long time to sort Sirius and James squirmed a little, wishing he could hear what the Hat was saying to his best friend. Finally, Sirius and the Hat seemed to reach a decision and the Hat stammered out, a trifle huffily, "Sly...Gryffindor."

The Gryffindor table broke out into applause but James' attention was taken up by the absolutely murderous looks on Narcissa's and Bellatrix's faces. Glancing back at his friend, James was not surprised in the least to see Sirius wiggle his fingers in an obvious taunt at his cousins as he strode over to the Gryffindor table, a nasty grin on his face that slipped into a more normal smile once he sat down with his House. Watching the byplay between Sirius and his cousins caused James to miss most of the rest of the Sorting and he was startled when he heard, "Potter, James."

James jerked slightly, once more stumbling into the boy he had bumped earlier. Going red in the ears, he stammered out yet another whispered apology and hurried up to the dais. He had barely put the Hat on when it shouted out, "Gryffindor." and James felt a surge of relief. Jumping off the chair, he placed the Hat back somewhat reverently and joined his Housemates. Lily Evans, the girl he met on the train, slid down so he could sit next to his friend and James flashed her a smile, ruffling his hair self consciously.

As the Sorting ended with Snape, Severus going to Slytherin and Vitrius, Andrew going to Hufflepuff, Dumbledore stood and tapped his glass with a fork, calling the hall to attention. "Before we become befuddled with our excellent feast, I have a few beginning terms notices to mention." He paused and glanced around the room, making eye contact here and there, "First years will note that the aptly named Forbidden Forest is, indeed, forbidden to all students. Also first years are reminded that they are not allowed to own their own personal broomsticks. Finally, Quidditch tryouts are open to all students who wish to participate and the dates and times are listed on the boards in your House dormitories." His blue eyes twinkled as he clapped his hands once, "Let the feast begin."

There was a murmur of awe from the first years as the plates filled magically with food and the students quickly settled down to eating. Conversation was at a minimum until the students had taken the edge of their hunger off but then it started to pick up. The girls had apparently taken a liking to Lily and were including her in their conversations, chattering like magpies already. At one point, they asked the boy sitting in the middle of the group of girls to swap places with Lily so that they could all talk without having to talk over him. With an easy smile, Lupin agreed and introduced himself to James and Sirius. The three boys chatted about this and that for a while but, when desert came, their conversation fell to a screeching halt. Eating steadily through his desert, James was utterly oblivious to the world until Sirius jogged his elbow, "What?"

With a jerk of his chin, Sirius indicated the Slytherin table where Narcissa and Bellatrix had just gotten up. Joined by both the boys James and Sirius saw earlier on the train, Bellatrix led the merry foursome over to where James, Sirius, and Remus were sitting. "Well, well," Bellatrix purred quietly with malicious delight as she stopped across the table from Sirius. "If my little cousin hasn't gone and landed himself into goody-two- shoes Gryffindor."

"More like forced the Sorting Hat to put him here." Narcissa added with her own feral grin, "I mean," she shot the blond haired boy a look of wide-eyed innocence, "you heard the Hat start to say Slytherin but my cousin here is now a Gryffindor. Curious, don't you think, Lucius?"

James scooted a little closer to Sirius and felt Remus doing the same. Neither boy were sure what Sirius was going to do but they wanted to be in a position to help him if they could...or stop him from doing something that would get him expelled. Sirius shot both of them a surprised, but grateful, look before turning back to glare at his cousins and their counterparts. "I did no such thing." He ground out, gripping his fists together under the table, "Don't the four of you have anything better to do than try to torment me?"

The blond haired boy grinned and took Narcissa's hand, deliberately dropping a kiss on her palm, watching Sirius' reaction like a hawk. Pleased at Sirius' flinch, he drawled lazily, "It's rather like Muggle baiting, you know. Not challenging, certainly, but not without some satisfaction."

Sirius flushed bright red and made as if to rise from the table. Sharing a quick look, Remus and James grabbed either arm and forced him to remain in his seat. James looked up at Lucius Malfoy and snapped, "Leave us alone."

"Oh, he sure told you, Lucius." The other boy with them sneered down at James, wagging a finger in his face that James seriously had to quell the urge not to bite. "I guess we should leave the two blood traitors here alone."

Lucius turned that ice cold stare on the boy, "Rodolphos, you might want to remove your finger from the Rotter's face before he bites it. Rabid animal, you know." Since Lucius had turned back to see James' reaction, he did not miss it when Remus flinched at his words. Filing that away for future reference, he smiled icily down at the table, "Really, Rotter, you are quite the klutz you know. Severus over there," he indicated the boy James had tripped over twice with an elegant jerk of his chin, "tells me that you bumped, no...what was the word, my dear?"

With a glittering smile, Narcissa slipped a possesive arm about Lucius' waist, the top of her blond head barely coming to his shoulder. With the air of a born tattletale, she replied, "He said _smashed_, Lucius." The emphasis she put on it made the tale sound entirely worse than what it actually was; Narcissa was a born manipulator, after all.

"Ah, yes, _smashed_." Lucius turned his gaze back onto James, his features hardening, "He told us that you smashed into him twice and," he paused for greater effect and pronounced each work very distinctly, "you did not even bother to apologize. Shame on you, Rotter. I thought you blood traitors were adept at apologizing. After all, you simply must be adept at _something _in life."

Now it was Sirius' turn to take a hold of James to keep him from leaping to his feet as James swelled with anger. "I did so apologize!" He snarled back, "And I sure as hell did not '_smash' _into anyone. Furthermore..."

What the furthermore was, none of them were to learn that night. Though they had been speaking in low undertones, a Gryffindor prefect had noticed the group of Slytherins hanging around their table and had come to investigate. "What is going on here?"

"Nothing." Bellatrix said and sighed quietly, "Rather, we came over here to talk to my cousin, Sirius, and he got mad at us." She sighed again, seeming to wilt a little, "I mean, Narcissa and I were so hoping that we would end up in the same House as our dearest darling cousin but he was selected for Gryffindor instead. Oh, I just don't know what his mother is going to say."

The prefect glared at Bellatrix, not put off for a second by the concerned elder cousin act Bellatrix was presenting perfectly for him, "Well, if that is all, you will excuse us?" The way he said that, it was more of a demand than a request, "I must take the first years up to the dorms, and that includes your cousin."

"Of course." Bellatrix said with a gooey smile, "Why, we should be getting back to our common room ourselves." With one last glare at Sirius that dropped the temperature in the room considerably, she added, "Sirius, James. We will see you later."

As the four Slytherins swept away, irritably snapping at people that got in their way, Remus looked over at Sirius and James, arching an eyebrow, "I take it that was not a friendly visit?" If he was puzzled when the two boys burst into laughter, Remus did his best not to show it...


	4. Friends, Enemies, Classes

After an early night that was, thankfully, uninterrupted by the nightmare that had plagued his sleep before coming to Hogwarts, James woke when Sirius hit him with his pillow. "What, exactly, did you do that for?" He demanded as he threw Sirius' pillow back at him, rather miffed at being awakened so rudely.  
  
Sirius grinned unrepentantly and raked a hand through his wet hair, obviously over his cousins' behavior from last night, "If you want a shower, you might want to go get one. Or you can go back to sleep, skip the shower, skip breakfast, skip class, and get yourself tossed out. Either way, mate," he shrugged his shoulders eloquently, "it's up to you. I just thought you would like to be awake to make the choice."  
  
Out of habit, James glanced at his watch and bit back a curse. He was late and would really have to hurry if he wanted breakfast before going to class. "You should have woken me up earlier." He grumped as he threw the covers back, raking a hand through his already tousled hair, "We get our schedules at breakfast." Instead of wasting any more time on words, James gathered his shower accessories and headed to the bathroom. After taking the quickest, not to mention coldest shower in his life, James got dressed quickly and headed down to the common room where Sirius and Remus were waiting.  
  
Still shivering slightly, James quickly warmed as the three boys clattered down the stairs at a breakneck pace, delighting at breaking one of the parental rules that seemed ever so senseless. Arriving, finally, at the Great Hall, James saw Sirius glance over at the Slytherin table where Narcissa and Bellatrix were mostly notable due to their absence. His friend heaved a sigh of relief and the three boys walked over to the end of the Gryffindor table, greeting the others as they went past. As the boys sat down and received their schedules, there was a flutter of wings as the morning post. Neither James nor Remus were expecting anything so they kept on eating. Sirius, on the other hand, kept his eyes locked on the birds, looking for his family's owl which, much to his relief, did not put in an appearance.  
  
Completely oblivious to Sirius' inattention to the meal, James picked up his schedule and looked it over. "You have got to be joking." He groaned theatrically enough so that Remus and Sirius grabbed their schedules and looked at them as well, "History of Magic? On a Monday? First thing? How do they expect us to stay awake through that? Rolling his eyes in disgust, James looked over the rest of his schedule which seemed to be jam packed with double lessons. "On the bright side, we do get to fly three days a week."  
  
As one, the Gryffindor first years rose from the table and set off as a pack to go find Professor Binns classroom. Six stairs, four wrong turns, and their first ever encounter with Peeves who gave them the exact wrong directions, they finally managed to find the classroom. Some of the girls gasped when they saw Professor Binns was a ghost but stifled it quickly as the Slytherins, who had obviously managed to find the classroom with no difficulties, turned to stare at them. "Oh hell." Sirius whispered soundlessly as he caught sight of Rabastan Lestrange, his cousin's boyfriend's brother.  
  
James swallowed a similar sentiment upon catching sight of the boy that he had accidentally bumped into yesterday during the Sorting. Catching Sirius' eye and rolling his own, he walked over to the first empty table and sat down, feeling Slytherin eyes on him the entire way. Professor Binns started his lecture as soon as the Gryffindors were seated, not even bothering to introduce himself before launching into full lecture. With a sigh echoed by Remus and Sirius, who sat on either side, James pulled out parchment, ink, and quill and started taking notes.  
  
Not even ten minutes into the lecture, Binn's dry and reedy voice droning on and on about things that no one in their right mind gave a damn about, the entire class melted into a stupor. James tried desperately to take notes, he knew he would never remember all the dates and places, let alone the Goblin names, but found his eyes drooping and his attention wandering. Glancing over at Remus' paper, he was somewhat surprised to see almost an entire foot of parchment filled with neat handwriting about the lecture and James flushed, his notes were a lot less than that. Letting his eyes stray over to Sirius' parchment, James snickered, Sirius had managed to write down today's date and nothing else. Thinking for a second, James reached over and scribbled a quick note on Sirius' notes, "_Are you planning on writing any of this down or just staring off into space good enough for you?_"  
  
Sirius snapped out of the daze he was in and looked down at what James' wrote. With a smile on his face, he quickly penned, "_Come off it, mate, this is really bloody boring_." Darting a look over at Lily's parchment, Sirius bit down a snicker and added, "_Guess we are surrounded by the good note takers. Remus'll let us copy for sure._" With that, Sirius drew a tic-tac-toe board and gallantly gave James the first go.

The first two weeks seemed to fly by and, before anyone could account for it, it was Friday morning again. James, Remus, and Sirius were on their way to becoming best friends, somewhat to the exclusion of the other two boys in their dorm, but they were friendly to all in the House. Sirius had stopped scanning the owls when they came in, figuring that his cousins had not written his parents, and started to relax a bit. That morning, at breakfast, as they were eating, the morning post came in as usual. Sirius was so absorbed in his food that he failed to notice when a showy black owl landed on the table, a red envelope in it's beak. Remus was the first one to notice and he jogged Sirius with his elbow. "Letter for you."  
  
Sirius visibly flinched when he saw what the bird had for him but steeled himself to accept it. As soon as he touched the envelope, it ripped itself open and his mother's voice magically filled the hall, "_Sirius Phineas Black_!" The letter screeched, causing James to overturn his pumpkin juice and half the students in the Hall to jump, "_Your cousins wrote to me and told me all about what you are doing at Hogwarts! Gryffindor! I ask you, what the devil were you thinking, forcing the Sorting Hat to put you in Gryffindor? Why not Ravenclaw? Or Hufflepuff so that you could really bring shame to this family?"_ James darted a quick glance over to the Hufflepuff table where the students looked mutinously angry at Mrs. Black's words. As she continued, James jerked his attention back to the screaming envelope, "_I absolutely forbid you to associate yourself with James Potter anymore! It's bad enough that you have to share a dorm with him without having him as a friend as well. Do you hear me_?"  
  
As the letter paused, probably Mrs. Black drawing a breath, Sirius rolled his eyes and muttered, "As if anyone did not hear that, mother."  
  
"_And don't you dare sass me, young man! If you set even the slightest whisker out of line, I will pull you from Hogwarts and snap your wand myself! I am owling Dumbledore tonight to see if he can undo this fiasco you have landed yourself in and we will just see what he says! Gryffindor, I ask you!_" At that last shriek, the letter tore itself into half and burst into flames, matching the color on Sirius' face.  
  
Taking a deep breath, Sirius looked at James, just a hint too casually, "I guess mother doesn't like me being a Gryffindor." Before James could say anything in response, Sirius grabbed his books and said, "I'll see you two in History." before casually walking across the Hall, whistling a jaunty tune, apparently without a care in the world.  
  
Remus and James shared a wide eyed look, not sure what to say or do in this particular situation. Before either of them could make up their minds to say anything, James felt a polite tap on his shoulder. Turning, he saw Lily Evans standing there, her green eyes intent on his as she twisted her hands together, "James, shouldn't you go after Sirius and make sure that he is alright?"  
  
Raking a hand through his hair distractedly, James thought about her question for a second, "If he wanted me to come with him, he wouldn't have taken off so quickly." He thought that was a good argument and was somewhat disturbed as a frown flitted across Lily's face. Turning to Remus for support, he asked, "Didn't you think so, Remus?"  
  
Looking somewhat taken aback about being dragged into this, Remus thought about the question before answering, "I don't know Sirius as well as you do but I think he just wanted to be alone for a bit." Pausing, he shifted his gaze over to Lily's, whose green eyes snapped dangerously, "We will talk to him in History of Magic, Lily. I am sure he will be fine by himself til then but, if you are worried, why don't you go check on him?"  
  
Paling, Lily flushed, "No," she stammered, backing away and lowering her eyes once more, "I am sure he will be okay." Not watching where she was going as she backed away, Lily managed to bump into Taylor McKenzie, one of the other Gryffindor first years. As the two girls jumped and Lily apologized, the other girls came up, chattering to one another, and swept Taylor and Lily along in their tide. Managing to stop at the table to grab her bag, Lily glanced back at James and flushed once more as he caught her eye.  
  
The rest of the morning passed slowly for James; Sirius was brooding in History so James was left to actually taking notes, something that lost it's entertainment value after about five minutes. After that was transfiguration, a class that James excelled at for some oddball reason or another, so he quickly transfigured his match into a needle and checked on Remus and Sirius. Remus had also managed the transfiguration, though his was more of a knitting needle than a sewing needle, but Sirius could not even manage to get the match to change colors. Of course, he wasn't exactly trying either, unless staring off into space and doodling on parchment counted as trying. Before James could elbow Sirius to snap him out of his reverie, Professor McGonagall swept up to their table and glared frostily down at Sirius, "Black, are you planning on transfiguring today or shall I cancel class on your behalf?"  
  
Sirius seemed to freeze at her words, which were delivered in a low tone that only reached his ears, "Sorry, Professor." He mumbled quickly and pulled out his wand to try the transfiguration. Professor McGonagall hovered over their table until Sirius had managed to produce a needle, a bent and twisted needle, but a needle none-the-less before moving away. Sirius opened his mouth to whisper something but shook his head as James leaned in, apparently he wasn't ready to talk just yet.  
  
As the bell rang, Sirius muttered, "See you guys later." and walked off once more. Exchanging looks, Remus and James let him go without a fuss. Lily frowned at the pair of them as she noticed Sirius heading off in another direction, away from the Great Hall where the other students were filing in for lunch but held her peace. Not only did Sirius skip lunch but he skipped flying as well, causing Lily to give James and Remus another one of those looks but they managed to get to their Defense Against the Dark Arts class without having to answer to her.  
  
Early for class, the two boys loitered out in the hall, waiting to see if Sirius would show up. As a group of chattering Hufflepuffs passed them, James asked Remus in an undertone, "Do you think we should have gone after Sirius like Lily wanted us to?"  
  
Before Remus could answer, they were interrupted by the drawling tones of Lucius Malfoy, "They really should up their standards at this school, Severus. It's bad enough they let the mudbloods in but now they are accepting rabid animals as well." He sighed and shrugged his shoulders, "It does make you wonder what Dumbledore is thinking."  
  
James whipped around to send an icy stare at Lucius, totally missing Remus' reaction to Malfoys words, but not missing the malicious grin on Severus' face. "Shove off, Malfoy."  
  
Lucius raised one perfectly sculpted blond eyebrow and stared down his nose at James, "Mr. Potter." He said icily, "I have as much right to be here as anyone else. I also have the right to talk to anyone I choose about any subject I choose. You need to learn to keep that nose of yours out of other people's conversations." Glancing around, his features sharpened as he noted Sirius' conspicuous absence, "So Black has taken his mother's advice and dropped you as a friend. Bet that stung a bit, eh Potter?"  
  
"At least I have friends." James shot back, at once knowing how lame that was, "I bet you had to buy yours."  
  
Narrowing his eyes, Lucius bent over and hissed at James, "Severus here tells me that you spend your time in History of Magic goofing off with your little friends. How would you like me to tell Professor Binns that? Hmm?" Rising back up, Lucius continued in a splendidly urbane manner, "Or how about Professor McGonagall? She would have no problems taking, oh I don't know, ten points from Gryffindor for that."  
  
James stared at Malfoy and Snape, feeling a flush rise up his neck, "Go ahead." He snapped back, anger starting to blend into hatred, "Go ahead and tell her. Show her that all Slytherins are a bunch of whiny tattletales." At this point, Remus made as if to step in between James and Lucius, not wanting Gryffindor to loose points and have James get into trouble over something this dumb, but James pushed him off. "Show her your true colors, Malfoy. Of course, I bet she knows already. Your heart is a black as the Dark Arts you and the rest of that family of yours practice."  
  
"How dare you!" Lucius snarled, loosing his control over his temper. "An insignificant blood traitor like yourself and you dare to cast dispersions and slurs upon my family's name?" Straightening to his full height, Lucius looked as if he would dearly love to pull out his wand and fry James where he stood. James refused to back down, his own hand clenched tight about his wand even as he shook with nerves and fright.  
  
The two boys stared at one another, both breathing hard and a split second away from attacking one another, when Sirius strolled up to the classroom door. That broke the spell and, with one last icy look at James, Lucius gathered his dropped dignity about him like a cloak and swept down the hall, James glaring daggers at his retreating back. "What's going on?" Sirius asked, a tad too cheerfully.  
  
Seeing that James was not going to answer, Remus filled Sirius in, "Snape here has been carrying more tales to Malfoy." Snape flushed guiltily and walked past the three boys down the hall and away from the classroom, trying to emulate Lucius' walk. Remus let him go by with nothing more than an arched eyebrow, "Malfoy threatened to tell Professor McGonagall and James said that he knew about the Dark Arts the Malfoys are neck deep in." he shrugged, as if to say it was no good blaming him, "Malfoy took exception to that and, well, you walked in on the end of that."  
  
Sirius turned his gaze to follow Lucius striding down the hall, "Somehow," he said grimly, "it just doesn't surprise me that the Malfoys are into the Dark Arts. I assume that your parents dropped something about that, James?'  
  
James started at the sound of his name and flushed, "Dad might of mentioned something along those lines." Guilt crossed his face along with a touch of resignation, "If Malfoy was just threatening me about telling McGonagall, I think I just made sure that he would tell her. And, if he tells her what I said to him about being into the Dark Arts, that will surely get back to my dad." Raking a hand through his hair, James looked furious at himself, "Damn it, I should have thought before I blurted that one out."  
  
"Cheer up, mate." Sirius said, punching James lightly on the arm, "You can get a Howler at breakfast like I did and we can both be humiliated in front of the entire school. Now all we have to do is figure out a way for Remus to get one as well and then we will be a matched set." Sirius' ability to laugh at himself was rather remarkable considering his age but James was, never the less, grateful for it, and he smiled at his friend.  
  
As the three boys went into class, Remus looked over at Sirius and said dryly, "You know, Sirius, just because the two of you courted your own Howlers does not mean that I am going to do the same thing, if you don't mind."  
  
Taking their usual seats at the back of the room, the three of them got out parchment, ink and quills, assuming that the worst of the day was already behind them. Before Professor Hawke entered the class, however, Snape and Lestrange showed up. As Lestrange walked past the boy's table, he casually whacked James in the back of the head with his book. "Hey!" James yelled indignantly, eyes smarting from the blow.  
  
"Sorry, Potter," Lestrange smirked at him, "Didn't see you there." Before James could do much more than scowl, Professor Hawke entered the room, preventing any more conversation, and Snape and Lestrange hurried to their seats.  
  
James glared at Lestrange all the way to his seat, still rubbing the back of his head. "What do you want to bet that Snape told that looser what I said to Malfoy?" He whispered bitterly to Remus and Sirius before bending over his parchment to take down what Hawke was writing on the board. "Talk about making a whole bunch of friends in one day, now all of Slytherin will be after me." Sirius and Remus winced, sensing the truth in James' words but could offer no words of solace for him. _You are my enemy, Malfoy._ James thought furiously as he started to write...

* * *

_Author's response to review from Rileona_ - _Nah, James wouldn't recognize Lily from the dreams because all he remembers are the emotions he felt. He doesn't remember seeing anything other than the flash of green light, which would have no true significance at this point. Thanks for the R&R and I hope you keep reading._


	5. Skirmishes and Warnings

As if Lestrange's actions toward James in Defense Against the Dark Arts was a signal to the rest of the Slytherins, James became a target for the more malicious minded of them as the month progressed. The very next morning at breakfast, Rabastan again thumped him in the head with a book as he passed by the Gryffindor table, making it appear accidental to the teachers watching. Monday morning, a shove from behind sent James blundering to his knees, bruising knees and elbows on the stone floor of the corridor. When he collected his books and his wits, there was no sign that any of the students streaming around him had pushed him down except for a faint giggle. A couple of days later, as James was running outside to a flying lesson that he was very late for, an unseen assailant tripped him into the rose bushes. Emerging scratched and bloodied, James again hunted for his tormentors only to find that someone stole his Potions notes while he went looking. On Friday, Rabastan intentionally smacked James in the head with his book at breakfast while someone slipped a Dungbomb into James' pocket.  
  
As the stench rapidly cleared the students out of the Great Hall, James was left alone with a furious Professor McGonagall who had already given him detention and docked ten points earlier in the week when Malfoy had reported him for goofing off in class. "That's another ten points, Potter." She snapped, holding a white handkerchief to her nose, eyes watering with the acrid stench. "And another detention."  
  
"But, Professor, I didn't set off the Dungbomb and I have no idea where it came from! It just appeared in my pocket and then it went off!" James was beyond furious at this point, his eyes were watering with more than just the stench, and he was shaking with anger, "Please, Professor, you have to believe me. I mean, why would I set one off on myself? Why the hell would I do that?"  
  
McGonagall's eyes flashed dangerously and James had the sinking sensation that he was in huge trouble now. Sure enough, McGonagall drew herself up to her full height and looked down her nose at him, "That's worth another ten points, Potter, and I will be owling your parents tonight about your disgraceful behavior and your poor language choice. Now, I strongly suggest that you go back to your dorm, take a shower, and change clothes. I will not excuse your absence to Professor Binns, you will have to make that up to him yourself." James knew that Binns would give him another detention and almost groaned in despair, at this rate his entire weekend would be shot, "I expect to see you in Transfiguration, clean and on time, do I make myself clear?"  
  
James, not trusting himself to speak, jerked his head in an obvious nod. McGonagall glared at him for a moment longer before she swept from the room, leaving James alone in the deserted Great Hall. Gathering his books, he slammed them in his bag and stalked up the stairs to the Gryffindor dorms, cursing under his breath the entire way. Halfway up the stairs, he tripped over something and fell again, rolling down three steps to the landing. Bumped and bruised in spirit and body, James had to fight hard to keep the tears from spilling over as he picked himself gingerly off the stone and started up the stairs again. "Damn them," he muttered to himself, "Damn them all."  
  
Once again clean and dressed, James headed down the stairs, on his way to Transfiguration. Running into Sirius and Remus outside the Transfiguration classroom, James was shocked to see that both of them were sporting blue hair with pink polka dots, "What the hell happened to you two?" He demanded, his own misfortune temporarily forgotten at the sight of his two best friends, both of whom were visibly seething.  
  
"Deprived of your presence," Remus explained, doing his level best not to snarl the words as this was not James' fault and he had no desire to take out his anger on his friend, "the Slytherins have apparently decided that Sirius and I present a target as well. Some kind of guilt by association thing. They did this," he fingered a blue lock of hair with disgust, "just as we were walking into the classroom and Binns, that dotty old bat who doesn't have the decency to skiff off and die like a normal person, thought that we did it ourselves." James was slightly startled at the fury in Remus' tones; Remus wasn't the level headed one of the group for nothing, "So now we have detention tonight."  
  
Sirius was staring at a group of Slytherins that were drawing closer to where they were standing, "We have to get them back." He muttered before the group was upon them. Silence reigned for a moment as James and Remus turned to stare at the Slytherins who stared back. One of the Slytherin girls giggled harshly, unable to contain her mirth, and that set off an explosion of laughter as the Slytherins pointed at the trio, shaking with hilarity.  
  
James was seriously contemplating drawing his wand and hexing the lot of them, not that he could do more than shoot red sparks at them, when another voice cut over the sound, "That is quite sufficient. You, Slytherins, go to class now." As the Slytherins filed past, James, Remus and Sirius turned to look at the newcomer, Andromeda Black, who waited til the Slytherins were out of earshot before she spoke again, "You three had better listen to me and listen good. The Slytherins are out to get you, Potter, so, whatever you did to antagonize them, you had better make up for it as soon as possible."  
  
As James opened his mouth to protest, he felt the glare of Andromeda's dark eyes on him and desisted quickly. She stared at him for a long moment before turning her attention to her cousin, "Sirius, look, I know it's hard but you have got to play the game, do you understand? Publicly, you have to stay away from Potter otherwise Narcissa and Bellatrix will be tattling to your mother and you will be getting more than Howlers in response. Your mother wasn't joking about pulling you from Hogwarts and snapping your wand." Andromeda glanced around quickly to make sure that no one was near enough to hear her and added, "The three of you need to stay out of trouble and away from the Slytherins."  
  
"What, exactly, do you think we have been trying to do, Andromeda?" Sirius snapped back, tension evident on his boyish features, "Do you think I wanted Bellatrix and Narcissa to go blabbing to mother so she sends me a Howler at breakfast that not only insults my best friend and the entire Hufflepuff House but completely humiliates me as well? Do you think James gets off on being shoved into rose bushes or getting detention because some Slytherin scut planted a Dungbomb on him?"  
  
Andromeda frowned, her black eyes snapping under the torchlight, "No, as a matter of fact, Sirius, I don't think that. But it doesn't matter what I think or say or do. I am just the only Slytherin not actively seeking a way to make your lives miserable and I think I deserve some credit for that instead of the bratty behavior you are currently giving me." Andromeda forced Sirius to meet her gaze and held it til he muttered a sullen apology, "I will work on the Slytherins some more. The three of you need to stay as close to Gryffindor as you can and give them no cause to hunt you down." As footsteps echoed on the stone floor, Andromeda looked at the three of them with something akin to fright in her eyes, "I have said too much, I have to go." and fled down the hall.  
  
Watching her go, Remus sighed and said quietly, running a hand through his brilliantly blue locks, his eyes curiously slanted in the bad lighting of the hall, "She really shouldn't have told us that."  
  
"Too damn right." Sirius said grimly only to be cut off by Remus snarling back at him in a quiet undertone, "She had put herself between her Housemates and her cousin and his friends. If the Slytherins found out that she tried to warn us, she would be in a much worse position than the three of us. The very least thing you can do, Sirius, is to take her warning seriously, even if you don't agree with her and you really should thank her for attempting to help us." With that, he turned and stiff marched into the Transfiguration classroom where Professor McGonagall was waiting for the bell to ring. James and Sirius stared at one another for a minute before following their friend in, not quite sure what had happened there.  
  
After a day where Remus and Sirius were refusing to speak to one another and James refusing to act as a mediator, the three of them scarfed dinner quickly and went to Binns' classroom to report for their detention. Binns assigned them a foot long essay on why they shouldn't have done what they did to be turned in before they could leave and went into his office, leaving the door open so he could hear. Remus glared at the door for a long minute, thoughts tumbling around in his head so loud that James could practically hear them, before tossing his quill down with a sigh of disgust, "How am I supposed to write a foot on why I shouldn't hex my own hair blue when I didn't do it in the first place!"  
  
Sirius looked up from his own parchment, his own blue locks tumbling around his face, "If you figure it out, tell me, would you?" Remus stiffened and ducked his own head back down to his desk, falling silent once more. Sirius met James' eyes and rolled his own, a smile dancing in his eyes that faded when James frowned at him. "Alright," he muttered to himself, "I get it." In a louder tone, he added, "Remus, James, listen, I am going to find my cousin and apologize to her tomorrow. Is that better?"  
  
Once again tossing his quill down on the desk, Remus leaned back in his chair to take a long look at Sirius. Just when Sirius was starting to get irritated under that compelling gaze, Remus cracked a smile and said, "You know, Sirius, I think blue and pink polka dots are an improvement. You should keep your hair like that." Sirius looked as if he wanted to be angry but a bark of laughter escaped him, triggering a laugh from the other two. As Professor Binns glared at the three of them from the office, they quickly pulled faces of studious sobriety and went back to work, the breach mended.  
  
The next morning, the three boys went down to breakfast before the other Gryffindors, and indeed most of the rest of the school, were awake. In the mostly empty Great Hall, the three of them felt free to talk away from prying eyes and ears. "It seems to me," James said as he heaped some scrambled eggs onto his plate, "that we can't take this lying down." Glancing meaningfully at Sirius' and Remus' hair, still sporting their new color change as the school nurse had refused to remove the hex on Binns' orders, James added some bacon to his plate before continuing, "I know what Andromeda said yesterday and I thought about it all night long but I just don't see an apology to Snape making the slightest bit of difference at this point."  
  
Sirius leaned back on the bench, twirling his for around in his hand, "I think you might be right, mate." At Remus' sharp glance, he continued, a trifle defiantly, "I know my cousin is trying to help us but she is the only one against an entire House. How much good can she do realistically? Especially with my other two cousins doing their level best to disrupt it." He paused and scratched his chin thoughtfully, "No, the way I see it, the Slytherins crossed a really big line yesterday when they hexed Remus and me."  
  
Sensing James gathering himself for a huge explosion, something that would start with 'Oh come off it, Sirius' and ending with something nasty, Remus cut in, "Look, James, neither Sirius nor myself think that what they have been doing to you is ok, or anything like that. But there wasn't really anything either of us could do about it, the Slytherins always went after you when you were either alone or when they could get to you without us seeing, like yesterday at breakfast. And using magic, especially outside of a classroom like they did yesterday, is a very dangerous move on their part as it puts them more out in the open."  
  
"And not only did they go after us," Sirius added with a tiny grin, "but someone, apparently a Slytherin from the gossip I got, put the same hex on a couple of Hufflepuffs." Raking a hand through his hair, he added bitterly, "Of course, they weren't around that crazy old bat Binns and the school nurse removed the hex for them."  
  
Remus snorted at Sirius' words, and, as his next words showed, the mention of Binns was all that it took to get him on the same track as Sirius, "You know," he said musingly, his eyes growing hard and wolf-like as he thought, "I think I have a couple of books on hexes back in the dorms. I don't know about you two but, if we are going to get them back for this," he raked a hand through his hair, "then we will need to know something to use against them."  
  
A flutter of owl wings sounded and all three boys looked up, James and Sirius with resignation in their eyes, Remus with sympathy for his two friends. Thus Remus was surprised when the owl landed in front of him, bearing a letter. "Thank you." He said to the owl politely and opened his letter. What he read there caused his hands to shake a trifle but he sounded composed as he folded the letter back up, saying, "My mother is ill. She is asking for me and I have to leave Hogwarts today."  
  
"Oh." James said, trying not to sound crestfallen, "Well, if you have to go, you have to go. I hope that your mother gets better soon."  
  
Remus smiled a ghost of a smile that did not quite reach his eyes, "She has a terminal illness," he said with a quiet sigh, "and there is nothing the doctors can do for her other than..." his voice broke a bit, he cleared his throat, "other than make her comfortable. I will dig up the books before I leave, you two need to spend the weekend figuring out the hexes, and I will see you probably on Monday." With that, Remus rose and left the table, stalking out of the Hall.  
  
The two stranded friends looked at each other for a minute before James broke the silence tentatively, "I really do hope his mum is alright." With a surge of guilt, James realized that he had not been to the Owlery in a couple of days being too wrapped up in his own misery to send a letter to his parents. "I should go write mum and dad a letter, I think. Let them know what is going on and, well, stuff like that. You know, so they aren't wondering if I've lost my mind completely since Professor McGonagall sent them an owl last night. "  
  
Sirius stared at James, eyes strangely shadowed in the flickering light, and nodded slowly, "Alright." He said and stood from the table, "I need to see if I can find Andromeda anyways. I'll meet you in the common room, then." As Sirius padded to the door, James felt that he should go after his friend and apologize or something for having the kind of family that wasn't like Sirius' but shook that thought off as he rose to leave.  
  
That night, after James' detention for McGonagall, the two boys were up reading the books that Remus loaned them well into the depths of the night, mastering the easy spells quickly and then progressing onto the harder ones. When they finally crawled into their respective beds, both boys were so tired they fell immediately into a dreamless sleep, never even hearing it when a gaunt and exhausted Remus crawled into his own bed around dawn.  
  
That morning, no, James thought when he checked his watch, make that afternoon, when he woke, James was only somewhat surprised to see Remus there. Putting on his glasses, he looked at his friend carefully; Remus not only looked like he had been run through the mill but there were tear tracks on his cheeks. With a degree of sensitivity that belied his years, James shook Sirius awake and the two of them tiptoed around quietly as they got ready to leave. Just as they were about to leave for the last time, they heard Remus whimper something about his mum in his sleep and James almost ripped the door off it's hinges in his haste to escape the room.  
  
Down in the deserted common room, Sirius flopped down on the couch with a sigh, "I wonder what new thing the Slytherins are planning for Monday morning." It was a valid thought, they shared the History of Magic with them, "I am seriously thinking about just skivving off class already. Binns has it in for us and that class is dead boring, anyway."  
  
James was just sitting down, about to answer Sirius, when the portrait hole burst open and Lily Evans dashed into the common room, unmistakably upset about something. James knew this because Lily burst into tears the moment she gained what she thought was a deserted room. James and Sirius exchanged panicked glances as Lily sank down into the chair nearest the portrait hole, crying as if her heart would break. "What do we do now?" Sirius mouthed to James, trying to sink lower into the couch so that she wouldn't see him.  
  
Hesitating for a long moment, James eventually waved at Sirius in an obvious 'stay here til the coast is clear and then clear off' gesture before rising and walking over to where Lily was. So lost in her own misery, Lily never looked up until after James had knelt down beside her and asked, in a surprisingly gentle voice, "Lily, why are you crying like that?" He almost rocked back in surprise as the girl flung herself about his neck but, overcoming his shock, put his arms about her awkwardly and rubbed her back, "Lily?"  
  
Gathering herself back together took most of the energy Lily had left but she lifted a ink strained face to meet James' worried one, "The Sly...sssly..." She flushed a brilliant crimson, not able to get the word out past her stutter, and took a deep breath, trying desperately to calm herself, "I was walking in the hall, going to the library, and I ran into some older Slytherins," the tears started afresh and she stammered out the rest, "they called me a mudblood and then one of them pushed me down and poured ink on my face. They told me," her voice broke as she remembered, "that since I was fouling the school with my presence, I deserved to be dirty."  
  
There was more to the story than that, James sensed as he pulled her in close, rubbing her back gently. Under the ink, one of Lily's eyes was starting to swell up like a grape and there were very fresh bruises on her arms. Still, he couldn't force her to tell him anything so all he could do was offer comfort. Sirius and a barely awake Remus came down the stairs then, before the moment could grow awkward between the two children, and Lily withdrew from his embrace. As she stood, having gathered herself together rather admirably, James thought, she whispered a quick, "Thanks." before excusing herself to go to the bathroom.  
  
Grimly, James waited til she was out of earshot and filled in his two best friends in the school on what happened to her as well as what he deduced. This was it then, all three of them realized. The Slytherins were declaring war and the three of them would rather be damned than let them get away with it. With an increasing vigor, they retreated back up into their dorm room to practice hexes on each other until hunger drove them down to dinner later that night. _Slytherin, you are my enemy_, was James' last thought before he tumbled off to sleep, disturbed by dreams consisting mostly of flashes of green light and a snake hissing...

* * *

_Author's response to the R&R from PammaPoo - Thanks for the R&R, I really do appreciate people letting me know they like what I am writing. As to your question about whether or not I'll kill Lily and James, I haven't decided where I am going to stop writing the fic yet. Since I am trying to write the tale within the Potterverse canon (even if some of it is just deductive work, for example, Bellatrix has to be the eldest cousin because she in on the left of the Black family tree in OotP), if I wrote the story all the way til the end, Lily and James would have to die to keep the tale within the canon. However, I probably won't go that far...and, just to let you know, I am about to start glossing over years because I don't want this to drag on for eternity til I reach their 5th, 6th, and 7th year, especially since I happen to have a really killer plotline for Sirius begging me to write it!_


	6. Old Friends, New Friends

Monday morning, James was not surprised to see the family owl fluttering down to the breakfast table but he was surprised to see an ordinary letter in her beak and not a Howler. With a sigh, he took the letter, steeling himself for what was to come, and slit the seal with a finger. Sirius and Remus watched covertly as James read the letter, his eyebrows climbing higher and higher with each line. Finally, he finished and tossed the letter down, staring at it with a puzzled expression on his face.  
  
Unable to stand the suspense, Remus asked, "Well, what is it?" James pushed the letter over to Sirius and Remus, it didn't matter to him if they read it and it would be faster than him trying to tell them what it said. The letter, written in his father's flowing script, read...  
  
_James,  
  
Your mother and I are both fine, just a little busy with work and all, so please excuse us for not writing sooner. Of course, the owl from Professor McGonagall was the first that we have heard of you since you left for Hogwarts but I remember what my first year was like so that is alright. I also remember the owls the professors used to send home about me, trust me when I say that this one is mild in comparison. Now, your mother is insisting that I add this in, that does NOT give you the right to make trouble, in fact, we would really prefer it if you managed to get by the next six and a half years without even a warning, but we do understand. This ONE time, that is.  
  
Here is the thing, son, and what I am about to tell you is being kept quiet so please don't tell anyone other than Sirius. I know you can trust him. Anyway, things are heating up at work for reasons that I can't get into with you and I might have to go abroad for the Ministry. If I do, I expect you will be on your best behavior while I am gone and not cause your mother any trouble. Hopefully, I won't have to go but, if I do, I might not make it home for a while.  
  
All my love,  
Dad  
  
PS. I am not quite sure how to say this so I am going to say it badly. Do nothing to antagonize any of the Slytherins right now. There are some very strange things happening and those of that House seem to be at the forefront...  
_  
There were some lines scribbled out at the end of the letter, as if Mr. Potter had changed his mind about letting his son have that information. Remus put the letter down and looked at James, with a puzzled expression on his face, "What, exactly," he said slowly, "do you think he means by this?"  
  
Before James could answer, Sirius burst in angrily with a question of his own, "How come," he demanded, "I get a Howler and you get a gentle telling off?" James stared at his friend, there was not a single power on earth that would get him to answer that loaded question, until Sirius picked up his books and said, "See you later:" Remus and James exchanged worried looks as Sirius stomped out of the hall, too mad now to care what other people thought of him. From out of the corner of his eye, James saw Lily frown at him, she was going to make him go after Sirius this time.  
  
Coming quickly to a decision, James picked up his things and told Remus he would see him in class. Checking his watch to make sure he had enough time to talk to Sirius, James jogged out of the Great Hall, looking for his friend. He found Sirius about half an hour before their History of Magic class, dispiritedly sitting outside under one of the trees by the lake. Dropping his books, James flopped down beside his friend, "You want to tell me what's going on?"  
  
"No."  
James rolled his eyes at Sirius' terse comment, "You better."  
"Or what."  
"I'm going to kick your ass."  
Sirius snorted, "You and what army."  
"I don't need one."  
"Yes, you do."  
"No, I don't."  
  
Sirius shrugged, still not meeting James' gaze, "You can try." James merely held his silence, knowing Sirius would speak sooner or later. Sure enough, as Sirius threw a rock at the lake, he said, "Mother sent me another letter last night." He paused, hunting around for another rock to throw. Finding it, he threw it as hard as he could, "Well, you heard the Howler she sent, so you can imagine what this one was like." He let out a bark of harsh laughter and added, "Actually, you probably can't. This was worse, if you can believe it." He scuffed his toes in the dirt and then looked at James, explaining, "S'why she didn't send a Howler; Dumbledore would of never let something like that be screamed aloud in the Great Hall."  
  
James' mouth fell open, he couldn't quite conceive of a letter so bad that it simply could not be sent as a Howler, and, realizing how dumb he probably looked, asked, "What...you don't have to tell me or anything...but what did she say?"  
  
Turning his gaze, Sirius stared hard at the lake, telling himself that his eyes were watering due to the sunlight, "I don't know. I didn't read all of it...I chucked it into the fire when I realized where it was going." A self deprecating smile touched his lips, "Let me put it to you this way, the nicest thing she called me out of what I read was 'shame of my flesh.' Nice thing for a parent to say to their child, isn't it?" Sirius sighed and tore his eyes away from the apparently fascinating cloud formation over the lake to look at his best friend, "I really, I dunno, your parents are so nice all the time and mine, well, mine aren't. It just bugs me."  
  
It was now James' turn to stare off into the lake, not knowing quite what to say to that. Feeling the pressure to say something, he looked down at his shoes, "I'm sorry." James flushed red, he had simply no idea why he had said that, and stammered out an adjunct, "I wish I could make your mom be nicer to you or something."  
  
Sirius shook his head, raking his hands through his, still, blue with pink polka dotted hair, "Don't bother." He said, again a hint too casually, "My mother isn't worth the time of day for someone like you and, to be frank," he turned his penetrating stare onto James once more, "I don't expect you to solve my problems. But, if we are wishing," he trailed off, flushing a little, "if we are wishing, I wish that I had a family like yours."  
  
The two boys sat in silence for a long moment then, in that way males seem to be able to do, sharing silent communication. Eventually sensing that Sirius had exorcised the demon and it was time to let the topic drop, James flashed a tentative grin, "You know, Sirius, I really do think you need to do something about your hair. I've got a counter-curse book in my bag, what say you we go to class and look it up while Remus takes notes?"  
  
Later that afternoon, James ran into Lily as he was coming out of the boy's bathroom and she, apparently, was coming out of the girl's. "Hey, Lily." He said in greeting as he fell in step beside her, both of them on the way to their flying class which was immediately after lunch. He glanced out of the corner of his eye at her; she looked happier and the bruises were gone as far as he could tell.  
  
"Hey James. I saw you guys this morning at breakfast and Sirius looked upset." Lily replied as she readjusted her backpack, looking serious, "Did you go talk to him before class? Is he alright?"  
  
James shrugged, not sure of what to tell her, "We talked, yeah." He paused for a moment and then continued, "I think that he is better now. He just had some...stuff that he needed to get off his chest." Fiddling with his own backpack kept him from having to make conversation for a moment but he spoke once more, voice low and concerned, "The Slytherins haven't given you any more trouble, have they?"  
  
The air seemed to chill between the two of them as James waited patiently for his answer. Finally, Lily stopped and gave him one of her piercing looks, the ones that see right through you, "James, you have to leave the Slytherins alone." She reached out and touched his arm, adding emphasis to her words, "Trust me, they aren't worth the trouble that you could get into and I don't want you to get tossed out on my account."  
  
James shrugged uncomfortably, his thoughts had been wandering down that particular lane a time or two. Well, not the getting expelled part, at least. "You saw what they did to Sirius and Remus and they didn't treat you any better." He reached out and brushed his fingertips over her cheek, the one that the Slytherins had bruised, "But you would still have me turn the other cheek, Lily?"  
  
"For some reason, yes." Lily said tartly, shrugging his hand and his concern off; there was something in his regard for her that scared her, "I would hate to loose my best Transfiguration competition, after all."  
  
James threw back his head and laughed, raising a hand to ruffle his hair self consciously, "Well, there you have it." Pushing his glasses back onto his nose, he smiled at her and the two of them continued their way down the hall. As they walked, James thought some more, his levity dispersing, "Just promise me that you will tell, if not me, then someone if the Slytherins bother you again, Lily."  
  
Once again coming to a halt, Lily stared up at him, wondering where he was going with this. Just as she was opening her mouth to speak, the bell signaling the start of class sounded and Lily widened her eyes in shock, "Oh, no! That was the bell." The two of them turned and ran down the hall as one, hoping against hope that they would not get into trouble for being late.  
  
The next morning after a bad night filled with dreams he couldn't remember, James was watching as Rabastan approached the Gryffindor table from the corner of his eye, not ready to take any garbage off him. When it became apparent that Rabastan was, once again, going to thump James in the head with a book, James whipped out his wand and muttered, "_Expelliarmus_." He watched in total satisfaction as the book flew out of Rabastan's hand and landed on a plate of of syrupy pancakes. With satisfied smirks, James, Remus, and Sirius rose from the table and headed to the door, pausing long enough for James to smile ever so maliciously at a steaming Rabastan. "Lose control of your book, Lestrange?" James asked pointedly, smiling at the Hufflepuffs who were all too ready to laugh at the very unpopular Rastaban. Before he could respond in kind, James, Remus, and Sirius walked out of the Hall, laughing at the look on his face.  
  
"I bet you thought that was funny, didn't you, Rotter?" Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Black stepped out of the shadows of the door to the Great Hall as the three boys passed through. With the tiniest of glances at the door to ascertain that the teachers inside would not see them, Lucius rounded on James, "I bet you don't have the guts to take on a real wizard."  
  
Sirius couldn't let that one pass without challenge, "It's like this, Malfoy," he sneered right back in classic Black tones, "when we find a real wizard that wants to take on James, we'll let you know. You can come watch, if you like. Bring your lapdogs, if you wish." He raised his chin, looking down at his cousin so that she could not begin to mistake whom he meant by that comment.  
  
Narcissa waggled one finger under her cousin's nose and said tauntingly, "Shame, shame, dear cousin. I shall have to write to your mother about your appallingly bad manners to Lucius. You know how she feels about him, being from one of the finest, not to mention oldest, wizarding families in our world. That might even be worth another Howler, you know." As Sirius turned red, Narcissa giggled, a high pitched false sound, "Oh, I just love it when you turn red, darling cousin. Just goes to show how delightfully easy it is to bait you, you know."  
  
Sirius went for his wand, James and Remus went for Sirius, and Lucius and Narcissa laughed in derision before sweeping off into the Great Hall together. "Let...me...go!" Sirius gasped at James who had his arm wrapped around his waist. James remembered his father's warning and tightened his hold on Sirius once more, "I am going to...do something really bad to that girl!" He struggled for a moment longer, saving his breath to fight off his two friends...  
  
"The Trouble Triplets fighting in the halls? And with each other, no less. My, my, Professor McGonagall will be so pleased to hear that."  
  
The Trouble Triplets, as they were now nicknamed, stiffened and turned as one to look at the newcomers, "Snape and Lestrange. What a bloody great day this is turning into." Remus ground out, his temper as sorely tried as James' and Sirius' at this point, especially with the threat of another detention added to it, "Why don't the two of you mind your own business?"  
  
Snape maintained his silence, merely meeting Remus' stare head on while Rabastan flung down his sticky History book at James' feet, "Shut it, Lupin. This, as of yet, doesn't concern you. Rotter, you owe me a new book." Rabastan leaned idly against the wall and continued, hand moving to grasp his wand since the three boys could not see him do it, "Of course, if you can't pay for it, I will be happy to take it out of your hide." Pulling out his wand, he snapped, "_Diffendo_."  
  
The force of the spell sent James reeling back, a cut opening high on his cheekbone, and he plowed into his two friends. All three of them hit the floor and could only watch, aghast, as Rabastan strutted off, laughing. Snape stared at the bleeding cut on James' face as if he couldn't quite believe what had just happened until Sirius, finally, extracted his wand and pointed it at him, "You had better leave, Snape." He said as coldly as he could manage, considering how shaken up he was. Snape looked for all the world like he wanted to say something but, sensing the rampart hostility coming from the Trouble Triplets, decided that discretion was the better part of valor and left.  
  
"That son of a bitch." James muttered quietly, ignoring the shocked looks on both Remus' and Sirius' faces, reaching a shaking hand up to his face. Pulling it away, he grimaced at the sight of the blood, and snarled, "I am going to..." Closing his mouth with an audible click, James picked himself off the floor and stalked off, leaving Remus and Sirius to stare after him.  
  
Furiously, James stomped down the halls of Hogwarts, trying to remember the way to the Nurse. Blood was running down his face now, soaking into his robes, but James was to angry to actually care about the blood he was leaving every where. Nor was he paying attention to where he was going either and he ran smack into another student, "Peter," he said in surprise, lending a hand to help him off the floor, "what on earth are you doing here instead of in class?" Taking a better look at his fellow Gryffindor, James said grimly, "Never mind. I see the Slytherins got to you too."  
  
Peter nodded furiously, hands going back over his mouth to cover his teeth that were five times their normal size and still growing. He tried to speak but couldn't get the words to come out past his teeth so he pointed to James cheek, lifting his eyebrows in an obvious question. James ran a hand through his hair and spat, "Rastaban, of course. With Snape looking on as usual." Peter began nodding vigorously then and James asked, "Rastaban and Snape got you too?" At Peter's final furious nod, James looked even darked than normal, "Somehow, that just doesn't surprise me. Those two certainly get around."  
  
The two of them walked into the Infirmary and were greeted by the Nurse, Madam Pomfrey. She clucked over the pair of them as she set about quickly healing the cut on James' cheek and fixing Peter's teeth, muttering under her breath about uncontrolled students. Just as James was starting to go slightly nuts from listening to her chatter, she dismissed the pair of them with notes for Binns. As they left, Peter would still not meet James' eyes, obviously embarrassed and James, said, in an effort to make him feel more at ease, "Cheer up, Peter. We will get them yet."  
  
"How do you plan on doing that?" Peter stuttered, his eyes twitching up and down the hall as if he expected Slytherins to leap out of the shadows and curse them on the spot, "That is the second time I have been cursed this week and I can't even report them half the time cause I never see them doing it. Plus," he added a bit glumly, "no one believes me."  
  
James punched Peter lightly in the shoulder, grinning a little as he realized he was doing one of Sirius' favorite actions, "We will figure something out. Sirius, Remus, and I already got a plan working. We just need to fine tune it a bit." Ruffling his hair, James added, with a self satisfied smile, "Did you see Lestrange's face this morning when he...ahem...'dropped' his book over at the Hufflepuff table?"  
  
Peter nodded vigorously once again, a smile blossoming on his little piggy face, "That was you?" He asked, eyes going wide with hero worship, "That was a cool spell, James. Can you teach it to me?"  
  
James shrugged and smiled, basking in the approval of his classmate, "Sure." He said easily, wanting to help his Housemate to be able to defend himself, "It's not a hard spell and it's one of the ones we are supposed to learn in Defense Against the Dark Arts this year anyway. If you are in the common room tonight when Remus, Sirius, and I are, we can teach it to you then. How's that sound?"  
  
"That sounds really great." Peter replied, sounding elated that James was willing to teach him something. The two of them approached Binns' classroom and Peter smiled at James, "I guess I'll talk to you later, then." James nodded and the two of them entered the classroom, ignoring the stares of the Slytherin as they handed their notes to Binns.

* * *

_Author's response to R&R - Pammapoo, sorry about having to bring Peter in...I don't like him either...but I'm trying to stick with canon and he is rather essential to the rest of the story. I was playing with the idea of having him be in a different year but chucked that when I remembered Remus saying they all became animagus in their 5th year...so Peter would have to be as old as the true Mauraders were. I'm sorry, too, about the wait...I had a calculus test and two programs due this week, tonight was the first night I had free to write. Hope you like this one...I am about to start skipping years, now that the set up is almost complete._


	7. Last Call

"Hey mate," Sirius said as he flopped down casually, sitting next to James in the deserted Gryffindor common room, "Remus got another letter after class today. His mum is sick again and he took off to be with her."

James looked up from the text he was currently studying; it was a week before Christmas break and they had a Potions exam in the morning, "Oh, damn." He replied, a hint of dismay in his voice, "I was hoping he would be here to help me figure out what I did wrong with that potion on Tuesday before the test."

Raising his eyebrow at James' comment, Sirius asked, "And what am I? Chopped liver?"

"Just as bad in Potions as I am, apparently." James replied with the truth, "You melted the bottom of your cauldron Tuesday. My potion just turned pink, the exact wrong color, and kept me awake with the jitters for half the night." Since the potion they were making was supposed to be a sleeping potion, James' reaction to it was the exact opposite of what it should have been.

Sirius grinned at James as he asked, a hint of the wicked about him, "So you made a stay awake potion instead? Big deal." He shrugged then and then brightened with a thought, "I bet we could make a fortune selling it to the 5th and 7th years, especially once O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. pressure starts."

James just stared at Sirius for a long moment, "I thought," he said, a trifle suspiciously, "that you didn't need money.

Sirius shrugged casually, and by his manner, James could tell that the idea was just a passing thought, "Well, yeah. And, oh I forgot to tell you," here he smiled, an easy smile instead of the haunted one he had been wearing of late, "as of today, it has been three weeks since I heard from my mother."

James congratulated Sirius on being under his mother's radar, it was a wonder, really, considering all the hexes they had been perfecting on certain Slytherins since October. As it stood, James had received another warning letter from home a few days ago, in his mother's hand this time, as Professor McGonagall had been forced to give him detention for hexing Rabastan Lestrange. In the part of his mind that was not occupied by school, James was worried about his father but managed to hide it from his friends as he was not ready to discuss the situation yet. He was still clinging to the hope that his father would, somehow, make it home on time for Christmas...

After a rather cheerless Christmas for the Trouble Triplets, it was business as normal as the three of them returned from their parent's homes. Remus looked gaunt and hollow, something that worried both James and Sirius, but neither one of them were ready to talk about their Christmas either so they could hardly press the point. Actually, the best thing that happened to James over Christmas break happened three days after Christmas; he received an Invisibility Cloak from his father, something not even his mother knew he had and James was determined to keep it that way. He hadn't even managed to bring it up with Sirius and Remus, whom he trusted absolutely, with all the other people about. The first Monday back, they were handed their new schedules, not surprised to see that their Flying class had been cut down to one day a week and Care of Magical Creatures added in it's place. James shrugged philosophically about it, it wasn't as if he could do anything about it and complaining wouldn't help either.

The days flew by and James was rather surprised to see how much he remembered over the Christmas break, marked mostly by his father's continued absence, as he earned Gryffindor ten points in Transfiguration and another five in Defense Against the Dark Arts in the first week. The Slytherins were leaving Gryffindor alone; the three of them decided that it was because a) they fought back and b) the Slytherins were getting bored with the game. As it was, James relaxed his guard around the third week back, along with the other Gryffindor first years. Well, all of them except Peter, that is. Peter had a hard time with magic and the more nervous he got, the more he screwed up even the simplest spells. The Slytherins sensed that, somehow, and contrived to haunt his very footsteps til just the sight of one of them would send him into almost epileptic shaking. James, Sirius, and Remus put their heads together to try to help Peter; staying close to the three of them seemed to help so Peter became their shadow outside of the dorms.

One day, right before dinner, James had simply had enough of his friends and, claiming he had a headache, slipped out of Charms a tad bit early, intent on taking a walk to clear the air. In truth, he did have a headache, so that wasn't a lie, but it was not borne of Peter's endless nervous prattle, Sirius' deadly sarcasm, Remus' chiding comments, or even the chaos in the Charms classroom. No, James had received another letter from his mother the night before; she still had not heard from his father; and James was really starting to worry. He scuffed his shoes on the stone floor as he ambled in the direction of the Infirmary and thought hard about his father's absence. James really wanted to be mad at his father for not being there on Christmas but the anger would not stay long, transmuting itself into gut clenching worry. Tearing himself into knots, James was not paying attention to his surroundings and, thus, he was rather surprised to find himself falling down the stairs to the dungeons.

James bounced, rolled, and, finally, skidded to a halt on the first landing; bruised and shaking with fright and pain. Stiffly, he got to his feet and gathered his books, wincing as each new movement caused a newly battered part of his body to introduce itself to his consciousness. James was just putting his foot down on the first stair to climb back up when he heard Rabastan's soft drawl come from somewhere below him. Thinking quickly, he pulled the Invisibility Cloak out from his bag and ducked under it before going to investigate the Slytherins.

"Look, Snape, I really don't care about all that." Rabastan's voice exploded into anger; James hurriedly rounded the corner so that he hear better. As he stood in one of the alcoves, James leaned out a little to get a better look. Rabastan was standing in front of Snape with his hands on his hips and Snape was back against the wall, trying to lean casually into it and failing miserably. "You know how to work that spell and I need to know. So just tell me already."

James could not hear Snape's response for he was speaking too low but James did not want to risk moving forward, not when he knew that class was about to end and he would get trampled in the hall. Straining his ears, he caught "...spells like that..." and then, "learn...the Dark Arts?" Desperate to hear more, James managed to stay into place by sheer will power alone but did manage to catch Snape saying, "Malfoy would ..."

There was some more indistinct murmuring from Snape and then Rabastan cut him off, "Snape, don't you get it? Malfoy wants me to. And what Malfoy wants, he gets. You should know that by now." Snape opened his mouth to reply but James had leaned in a little too close to listen better, sending the statue in the alcove crashing to the floor. James made good his escape to the nearest boy's bathroom, secure under the Invisibility Cloak, where he hid the cloak in his bag once more before joining the rush to dinner with the other students, wondering what the hell that was all about...

By the time the end of the semester was rolling around, there were no firmer friends than James, Sirius, and Remus. Well on their way to establishing their reputations as trouble makers and pranksters before Christmas, they managed to entrench it in stone after Christmas, hexing any Slytherin that dared to give them grief and pulling off some truly classic pranks. Some of the spells they were using were highly advanced for their ages, something that earned them respect from their peers and the three of them took turns watching out for Peter, as well as helping him along with his homework. Occasionally, the other Gryffindors sat in when one of the Trouble Triplets were showing off their rapidly advancing magic skills, Lily almost never. After their last encounter on the way to that flying lesson, Lily withdrew from any overtures James made, but most especially when the word of the Trouble Triplets hexes or pranks got back to her ears. James did wonder at that but, since Lily was still treating him with chilly civility, decided to ignore it. The last day of classes, however, he couldn't ignore her...

Coming out of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom where they just had their last final, James suddenly sighed, "Oh, damn." and turned to walk back into the room, shouldering Snape out of his way. Whereas at the beginning of the year, James would have apologized, this time he just snorted in disgust, thinking to himself, 'Dark Arts git.' The year had changed him quite a bit; the long absence of his father and having to deal with the Slytherins everyday had hardened him, almost to the point of Sirius' studied cynicism and borderline callousness; and it was apparent in his manner.

Lily eyed James nervously from her desk, she was gathering up her things to leave when James walked back into the now deserted classroom. She wasn't sure why he made her nervous lately but there was no denying that he did; there was just something about him that set her teeth on edge, "Potter." She said coolly and stoppered her ink bottle, stuffing it into her bag.

James glanced over at her and started to walk to his desk when he changed his mind, coming over to perch on her desk top, "Lily," he said, trying to sound casual, something was bugging her and this time he was going to find out what it was. "Why so formal all the sudden?"

Blushing, Lily turned away from James, picking up her books and hurriedly stuffing them into her bag, "No reason." She said quickly, cursing her stubborn books inwardly, "I just...well..." She could tell that her cheeks were glowing red now, something she despised, and looked at him for the first time, "It's not like you and I are exactly what I would call friends." Hell, none of them really are...

"None of who really are what?" Lily stared at James in absolute mortification, she had said that last part aloud. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, digging her fingers into her temples, "Nothing, James, really. Don't worry about it." Seeing that he was going to reach out to her, Lily panicked, "I'll see you later." She announced in her tightly controlled voice, afraid that the least little quaver would bring another onslaught of hopeless weeping, something she despised to do with a passion. Avoiding his gaze and his outstretched hand, Lily fled, running blindly down the halls of Hogwarts.

Puzzled, James walked over to his desk and picked up his almost forgotten Defense Against the Dark Arts book, staring at the spot Lily had just vacated. Something was bothering her but she did not want to talk about it. Normally, James was not one to pry into someone else's business but there was something about her that just reached out to him. Shrugging it off, he stuffed the book into his bag and started the long walk back up to the dorms where his packing awaited him.

Rounding a corner, James stopped dead in the halls for there was a rather large group of Slytherins in front of him, fortunately facing the other way. In the flickering torch light, he saw Malfoy, both the Lestranges, Narcissa, Bellatrix, Snape, and a couple others that he did not recognize offhand. Deciding that discretion was the better part of valor after all, James turned on his heel to go another way but stopped when he heard Narcissa exclaim, "Oh, look, the mudblood is crying." Her voice was laden with sugary sweetness that did nothing to disguise the spitting contempt in her tones, "How cute; these animals can mimic our behavior. Now, mudblood, are you going to do what we want you to do or do we have to make you again?"

"Leave me alone!" Lily shouted defiantly, or tried to. "You lot..." From the sound of it, a hand slapped across the younger girl's face...

As if he were in a dream, James realized whom they were playing with and, forgetting that he was severely outnumbered not to mention only eleven years old, he went on the attack. Drawing his wand, he walked down the hall towards the group, saying in a deadly quiet voice, "Get the hell away from her."

As one, the Slytherins turned around to look at the newcomer to their little game. When the crowd parted, James bit down hard on the exclamation rising in his throat, seeing, for the first time, Lily down on the floor with a glowing red hand print on her left cheek. Malfoy lifted an eyebrow, drawing James' attention, and drawled, "This doesn't concern you, Rotter. This is between the mudblood and us."

"Shut up." Continuing with that same quiet voice, James added, staring hard at Lucius, "Lily, come here." Lily spared one anxious glance at the Slytherins before getting to her feet and hurrying to James' side. Amazingly enough, the Slytherins let her do it, content to stand there and watch the power play between Lucius and James.

Disbelief crossed Lucius' face for a second before he laughed, a sound that had nothing at all to do with mirth. "You dare tell me what to do?" He asked, walking forward, looking for all the world like a cat stalking it's prey. "You filthy blood traitor, you have been a thorn in my side long enough." Pulling out his wand, he added, "It is time to stamp out the thorn."

Before Lucius could throw the first spell, James had taken advantage of the time Lucius wasted in throwing threats around, taking Lily's hand and shouting "_Noxingis_!" All the torches in the hall went out with a faint whooshing sound, plunging the hall into pitch blackness. Wasting no time, James began to run in the opposite direction, pulling Lily along with him, listening hard to the chaos erupting behind them as the Slytherins cast a bunch of spells where the two of them had been standing. Rounding a corner, a corner they were lucky enough to know blind since all the lights were out, James whispered, "Stop for a second."

The two of them stopped and Lily stared in his general direction, trying to catch her breath, "We have to hide." She whispered urgently and then, remembering where she was, continued, "I know where, follow me." The two of them set off down the hall as Lily, with her free hand on the wall so they wouldn't plow into it, lead them unerringly to the locked broom closet. Another whispered spell, "_Alohomora_." opened the door and a whispered, "_Colloportus_." locked it behind them.

"_Lumos_." James breathed a sigh of relief when the tip of his wand flared and filled the small closet with a soft white light. Quickly, he handed his wand to Lily and stripped off his robe, using it to stuff under the crack of the door. Pressing his ear to the door, he waited til the sounds of pursuit passed them before turning to look at Lily. She had slumped down to the floor, still holding his wand, looking lost and rather scared. James dragged a hand through his hair and squatted down beside her, reaching out to touch her arm, "Lily, you have to tell me what is going on."

Lily started at his touch and stared up at him, demanding without heat, "What do you think is going on?" She said far too evenly, the blush rising on her face giving lie to the words, "I ran into those Slytherins and they decided to pick on me. They have been doing that to me and every other student they have caught alone all school year."

It was true, James had been the brunt of their attacks himself a time or two, til he started fighting back. Still, there was that nagging sensation that Lily was again holding something back from him, "Narcissa said that they would make you do it again." Lily opened her mouth, James cut her off, "I heard her say it, Lily. What are they making you do?"

She sighed, flushed, and muttered, "It's nothing, James, really. In fact," here she laughed, a false high sound that was completely the opposite of her normal laugh, "it's rather stupid." Thinking fast on her feet was one of her strong suits, coming up with a solid lie was not, "They want me to write Lestrange's (the younger one) homework for History of Magic. I checked it for him a couple of times this semester but, when he wanted me to write the entire essay for him, I told him off. Apparently, he went and complained to Lucius and the rest was just bad timing."

Eyeing her suspiciously, James obviously did not believe that story for a minute. Not that Lestrange would try to make her do his homework so much as the rest of that little scene that he had broken up. Reaching out with a gentle hand, he touched her swollen cheek, "That doesn't explain this, does it?"

Lily tried to prevent herself from flinching away at his touch unsuccessfully, the paw print on her face was extremely sensitive to the touch right now, "I tried to get a quill out of my pocket and Narcissa slapped me. Apparently, she thought I was going to hex her or something, especially since the Gryffindors," Lily leveled a look at James so he would know she was dumping some of the blame onto him, "are becoming well known for retaliation."

"That is no reason to physically assault you, Lily!" James flared angrily, using his anger at the situation to hide the guilt her words caused him. The Gryffindors were starting to get a reputation, he knew it and so did the entire school. Hell, some of the other students were starting to take bets on when the Trouble Triplets were going to start trouble instead of just finishing it. "They can't hit you because they think you are going to end it with magic."

Lily lost the rest of her cool at that point, "Stop it, James!" He looked at her, calming down in the face of her formidable temper, which he had never seen unleashed. Rising to her full height, Lily glared down at James, "Part of this is your fault." She said quietly but with no less vehemence for lack of volume, "I am not blaming you so much as pointing out the obvious. Violence solves _nothing_ and should only be used as a last resort. As far as any of the rest of us know, you three never bothered to try anything else with the Slytherins which caused no end of trouble for the rest of us. Now, if you don't mind, I am going to go back to the dorms to pack before we are stuck here for the rest of the night."

With that, she pivoted on one heel and unlocked the door, accidentally walking off with James' illuminated wand. The door swung shut behind her and James was left in the dark, staring blindly at the closed door. "What the hell was that all about?"


	8. Start and Stop

James awoke with a pounding heart; he'd dreamed that dream again, the one that shook him down to his bones every time he dreamed it. _Hell_, he snorted to himself, _you would think by now, I would be used to it_. Throwing off the covers along with the fear the nightmare always brought on, James rolled out of bed to stare pensively out his bedroom window. It was September 1st and time for 15 year old James to go back to Hogwarts... 

As James readied himself for the trip to King's Cross Station, he thought about the last five years of his life that he had spent at Hogwarts. The many good memories he had of the place put a smile on his face and prevented the bad ones from creeping in. Like his father's repeated and long term absences over the intervening years or the continual problems with the Slytherins. Sure, Malfoy, Rodolphos Lestrange, and Bellatrix Black had graduated his third year at Hogwarts which ended their reign of torment but there were many others to take their places. Like Narcissa or Rabastan. Or even Snape. This year, too, would be the first year that Andromeda Black, the only member of the Black family that actually sympathized and liked Sirius, was going to be gone; she had graduated the last semester. Still, that did mean only one more year of Narcissa which wasn't really a bad thing.

Later, James boarded the train to Hogwarts, waving to his parents briefly before setting off to find Sirius, Remus, and Peter. He ran into Lily Evans in the corridor, "Hey, Evans." He said with an easy smile, tousling his hair to make it look like he had been out flying, "How was your summer?" While not exactly what he would call friends, the two of them had a hate/love relationship going that, unbeknown to either one of them, was continuously gossiped about by the other Gryffindors.

Lily turned around and had to hide a gasp; James had added inches to his height over the summer, making him much taller than she was for the first time. "Potter." She found her voice at last and slapped a smile onto her face, "My summer was fine, I guess. Nothing went on much other than the usual."

Not being stupid or blind, James jumped into the conversation, the better to draw it out so he could look at her longer, "That's good. Your sister still giving you hell?" Trying not to move his eyes, James looked her up and down, really loving what he saw. She was just the right height, with a nicely rounded figure, and her eyes were as bewitching as always.

Lily shrugged, a carelessly elegant gesture that touched James'...heart, and would have answered him but for the sudden eruption of screams down the corridor. With a sigh, she smiled at him, "Try not to set anything on fire, James." The screams intensified and Lily added, with a pained look on her face, "I'd better go see who is torturing the first years already."

"Wait a minute." He blurted out and then froze, not quite sure why he had stopped her when she turned back to look at him. _Don't ask her to go out with you, dear god, anything but that_. His mind nattered at him, the very thought of asking her out causing a faint blush to rise in his cheeks. "I...ah...so you're a Prefect then?"

Flicking her finger to the badge on her chest, Lily arched an eyebrow, intentionally mimicking some of Sirius' mannerisms, "That's what the badge means, James." She was rather fascinated at the flush in his cheeks and wondered what on earth could be causing that; usually she was the one with a flaming face. "I have to go. Tell Peter I said hello."

As James watched her walk away, he was left with one thought in his mind, "Peter?" He called out incredulously, with just a hint of jealousy, and groaned slightly. What was he thinking, shouting out things like that for all to hear. Fortunately for his peace of mind, Lily just kept on walking, giving no indication that she'd heard him what-so-ever. Running a distracted hand through his hair, James muttered to himself, "Boyo, she doesn't even like you. No sense in getting hung up on her and, besides, it's Evans, for Christ's sake."

**_ > > > > > > > > > > >_**

With the ease of five years, the 5th year Gryffindors slipped back into the routine at Hogwarts, causing no more trouble than the complaints over their killer class schedule over breakfast and a minor hexing scuffle that sent Peter and a Slytherin to the Infirmary their second day back. Remus came back from his monthly visit to his mother's, not noticing the looks Sirius, James, and Peter exchanged when they thought he wasn't looking, and resumed his Prefect duties once more. The four of them continued to work on the map they were developing of the Hogwarts' grounds and personnel; James and Sirius being deadly serious about something for a change to the point where Remus was starting to worry that they were slacking on their homework too much, considering this was OWL year. They were so busy on the map, homework, and James' Quidditch practices, in fact, that the first three weeks of school flew by insanely fast and they had not played a single prank on anyone.

The night before the first Quidditch match of the season, Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff, James trudged up to the Owlery with a letter to his parents. His father, surprisingly enough, had actually managed to spend the last week of the summer home and was still there, as far as the letter told James, and he wanted to write to him before his father left again. Borrowing one of the school's owls, James sent it winging on it's way and stayed up there, relaxing in the solitude.

"Penny for your thoughts, Potter." Lily had just walked into the Owlery a moment ago and, upon seeing James, had almost turned and walked right back out the door. Scolding herself for being a ninny, she had brazened it out, forcing the issue with her question.

James turned quickly when he realized someone was in here with him, hand going for his wand in an automatic reflex action. Lily divined his intentions, somehow, and yanked her wand quickly out of her robes, readying a disarming spell. "Dif...Lily." The first part of that was a spell that James chocked off, seeing who stood before him. The energy from the almost released spell rocked him as he reabsorbed it, making him snap, "Jesus, woman, what the hell are you doing here? I almost hexed you."

Lily waggled her wand unconcernedly at him, "I was ready to disarm you, Potter." She said calmly, finding her own sense of calmness in the face of his radiating tension, "And I have the right to be here, just as you do." It was interesting, she thought to herself, to watch the way the storm clouds gathered in James' eyes when he was angry, "I do apologize for startling you."

She had reverted back into her formal mode, something that, for some reason, made James want to shake the hell out of her. Settling for clenching his jaw, he spoke from around his teeth, trying to hide his irritation, "It's quite all right. I apologize for almost hexing you."

Waving her hands airily, Lily said, not quite putting her nose up in the air, "Think nothing of it." Casting about for something else to say, she edged past him and asked, "So, writing to your parents?" While she waited for his answer, she called down one of the owls, holding out her hand with the letter in it.

James bit back the defensive retort with some effort and said, simply, "Yes." Before the two of them could lapse into an uncomfortable silence, not that he was ever truly comfortable being alone with Lily, he added, "My dad is actually home for a change and I wanted to make sure the owl catches him there." Feeling that he had said too much and not wanting to see the pity in Lily's eyes (or worse, nothing at all), James turned back to the window ledge, staring out over the Hogwarts grounds. Damn, there was that uncomfortable silence again, he had to break it. "Lily?" He began hesitantly and then spat the rest out in a rush, trying to be casual and failing miserably, "I was wondering if you would...I mean, are the Slytherins leaving you alone?"

It was a fair question, Lily thought to herself even as she tried to quell her anger at his nosiness and her curiosity about what he was really going to ask. Just because the ring leader, Malfoy, had left, did not mean that the Slytherins were leaving her alone and Lily, on more than one occasion, had found herself cornered by them. So far, they had done nothing worse than leave bruises or hexed her but there was a streak in some of them she found very disturbing, something that promised something worse to come. "James," his name on her lips came out as more of a sigh. "I told you last year, I can take care of myself." She released the owl out the window, coming over to stand next to him, "I don't need a protector."

"But what if I want..." Lily could have screamed when James cut off what he was saying in midsentance once more. Ignoring that, James continued, "I mean, Lily, come on, you could really get hurt one of these days."

Frustration made her snap at him, "If I do, it will be your fault, you know." James opened his mouth to protest, she silenced him with her finger touching his lips, "You didn't start this, I know that now, but you are damned sure that you are going to finish it, aren't you? No matter who takes a hex that you meant for a Slytherin in the back."

Flushing guiltily for James had hexed Lily last year when he was going for Snape, James could not help the anger rising and jerked his head back away from her finger, "I told you I was sorry for that, Lily." He grabbed her hand, gently, and pulled her closer to him, "I did not know, how could I? I never saw you walking into the line of fire." He closed his eyes and whispered, "How long are you going to make me pay for that?"

Lily pulled away, James releasing her immediately upon feeling the pressure, and took a step back. Her hands went to her mouth and she felt surpised...and something else she could not quite put a name to yet, nor was she sure she wanted to. "James..." She began and trailed off, searching for what she wanted...no, needed to say to him. "I am not trying to make you pay for anything. It was an accident, I know that."

"Then why do you throw it in my face in damn near every conversation that we have had since then?" Lily sighed and let her shoulder slump, looking a bit lost at the question. Before she had a chance to answer, James exhaled heavily and dropped the anger like a bad habit, "Lily, I am sorry. I shouldn't have accused you of that. And I know that you can take care of yourself, I just want...I want you to know that you don't have to. I will always look out for you. I...we don't want you to get hurt."

Lily could tell what that apology had cost him and she looked at him, a much softened expression on her face. Reaching out, she cupped one hand over his cheek, rubbing her fingers lightly over his skin, "I know that, James. I really do. And I cannot begin to tell you what that means to me." Especially since there were others in the school who wouldn't lift a finger to save her...and not all of them were Slytherins. She knew it and suspected that James knew it as well. There are some people who will hate others for being too pretty or too smart and Lily wasn't top of her class for nothing nor did it help that she had a quiet but exotic beauty she was mostly unaware of...

Seeing the look in her eyes when James finally gathered his courage and met her gaze undid him, "Lily, I was..." He stuttered a bit before taking a deep breath and starting over, taking her hand off his cheek and holding it within his, "I was wondering if you would, ah, like to go to Hogsmead with me. Next weekend." As a puzzled look filled her eyes, he added hopefully, "Like a date."

_Oh god. Oh god. OhGodOhGodOhGod_. She was prepared for absolutely anything other than that and, in her nervous reaction, did the exact wrong thing. When she opened her mouth to accept, a nervous giggle escaped her lips. A giggle that turned into full blown laughter with no control over it...

James dropped her hand as if he had been stung, shocked and very disappointed in her reaction. "Fine. Forget I said anything." He said calmly, not showing any of what he was really feeling on her face. Turning away, he headed for the door, yanking it open before tossing the words over his shoulder, "You did not have to laugh at me, you know." Quickly and not looking back, he left the Owlery, missing the pole-axed expression on Lily's face as she realized what she had just done...accidental, sure, but what was done, was done.

_** > > > > > > > > > > >**_

The next morning, James was excessively distracted and moody during breakfast, snapping sullenly whenever Sirius or Remus asked him questions. The two of them shrugged it off, though not without exchanging some significant looks over James' head, but shrugged it off as first Quidditch game of the season jitters. Peter, on the other hand, was so busy eating as much as he could while pouring over his Transfiguration text, missed all of the subtleties of breakfast. Lily, at one point, looked as if she wanted to come over and talk to them but she quickly froze in the act of rising when James leveled a glare at her, dropping back into her seat. It almost looked like she wanted to cry...

During the Quidditch match itself, James was still playing distractedly, letting one of the Hufflepuff's Chasers get to the Quaffle three times before he was anywhere near. He knocked the Gryffindor Seeker almost off his broom and completely missed the goal post three times before the Team Captain, Johnathan McBain, knocked a Bludger into James and called a time out. James landed with a huff, that Bludger had caught him full in the stomach and knocked the wind out of him, "What the hell did you do that for, McBain?"

"You are distracted and costing us points, Potter." McBain said, calm in the face of James' obvious anger, "Straighten up or get the hell off my pitch." The two boys locked eyes, staring at each other for a long moment before James flushed and backed down. He muttered an apology and the team lifted off into the air once more. Determined to keep his mind off Lily, James somehow managed to play the best game of his life, scoring an unprecedented 250 points by a single Chaser in a game, leading the Gryffindor team into an easy victory over Hufflepuff, 540 points to 210. After the game, the thoughts came crashing back in on him once more and he waited til the rest of the team left before slouching off to be alone for a while...


	9. Curses and Wishes

"Hey, Rotter, nice going back in there." Rabastan's taunting voice could be heard over the crowded halls, "I mean, honestly, exploding a cauldron takes real talent."

As the Slytherins and even some of the Gryffindors snickered (after all, it did take real talent to explode a cauldon when making a draught of peace, you really had to work at it to screw it up that badly), James, about to reply with something nasty, caught Lily's eye and seemed to deflate. He hunched his shoulders and tried to walk off, ignoring their taunts. Sirius and Remus shared a bemused look but followed his lead, not sure why James had decided not to take issue with Rabastan.

Instead of confusing Rabastan, James' action only made him very angry. Pulling out his wand, he pointed it at James and hissed, "How dare you walk away from me, blood traitor. Or are you too stupid to know when you are being called out?" As James continued to ignore him, Rabastan looked around the hall, not quite certain what to do with someone who wouldn't even try to fight back with words. "Come back here, you coward!"

Slipping through the crowd, Lily came up beside James and tentatively brushed his hand with hers. As he glanced at her, startled, she whispered very quietly, "I am sorry that I laughed at you." Before she could say another word, Rabastan yelled something from behind them, and James, acting on instinct alone, dropped to the floor, dragging Lily down with him. The wall behind where they were walking turned an interesting shade of neon pink when the spell hit it and the two of them stared at each other for a second before Lily drew herself to her knees with a growl of anger. "Rabastan Lestrange, that is bloody well enough!" She shouted, ripping her wand out of her pocked and rising to her feet, glaring at the Slytherin the entire time. Pointing her wand at Rabastan, Lily approached, fury evident in her every movement, "That's twenty points from Slytherin."

"Why don't you shut the hell up, Evans?" Rabastan sneered back when Lily paused to glare at him, evidently trying to cow him with the threat of loosing points. Raising his wand, Rabastan glanced at Snape quickly before turning his attention back to Lily, muttering a particularly nasty curse that he had learned from Snape thier first year, aiming, not at Lily, but at James.

Divining Rabastan's intent, the entire hall erupted into chaos as soon as the spell was cast. Students scrambled in all directions, trying to get out of the hall before a real wizard's duel erupted before their very eyes. James muttered a curse and tried to throw a shielding charm about Lily even as Peter struggled to get his wand out, Sirius and Remus cast two different counter hexes at Rabastan, and Lily, being no one's fool, tried to drop back down to the ground. A spell caught her in mid drop, she had jumped right into it's path, and it slammed her into James, hard enough to drive them both back into the wall of the hallway.

"Lily, oh God, Lily, be okay. Please be okay." James knelt down beside Lily's motionless body in the hallway outside the Potions classroom, with Sirius and Remus flanking him. Shaking with fright, James patted Lily's cheeks, trying to get her to wake up from the spell that had knocked her out. The Slytherins had already cleared out, apparently frightened by the way Lily looked when that spell hit her. Running a tremouring hand through his hair, James kept calling her name, begging for her to wake up.

Looking down at his best friend, Sirius kept one eye on the hallway, hoping that Peter would be back with the school nurse quickly. "I hope Peter doesn't get lost," he said in an aside to Remus, who was watching the other side of the hall for any returning Slytherins, "she doesn't look too good."

Remus only shook his head, not bothering to respond in a verbal fashion. The tension he was under showed only in the whiteness of his knuckles of the hand clenching his wand, other than that, he might as well of been made of stone. Shock took him like that.

The sounds of running footsteps coming from the direction they had sent Peter caused three heads to snap up, wands raised at the ready, until they caught sight of the school nurse, with Peter bringing up the rear. Without a word, the nurse dropped down beside Lily, shoved James uncerimoniously out of the way, and reached for a pulse. Finding it fluttering under her fingertips, the nurse loosened Lily's blouse and snapped over her shoulder, "What happened?"

The force of the nurse's shove had sent James sprawling but he was still the first one to answer as he got to his feet. "Lily got in the way of a spell or two. I am not sure which one actually hit her." He scuffed the flagstones with his shoe, trying not to meet the nurse's eye, "She was just trying to do her job as a Prefect."

Bringing out her own wand, the nurse sketched a couple of arcane symbols in the air and a stretcher appeared under Lily, lifting her prone body into the air. "Which spell hit her?" The nurse demanded, only to snort in disgust as the four boys shook their heads, they honestly did not know which one it was, "Alright then, who cast it?"

James, Sirius and Remus shared a look but it was James that actually responded, "We aren't sure." He was lying, the nurse knew it and he knew she knew it, "There were too many people in the hall for us to get a good look."

The nurse stared at him for a long second before the sound of Lily's moan reached her ears, "The three of you better get to your next class," she said evenly, "I will take Miss Evans to the hospital wing. If I were the four of you, I would keep my nose clean for a very long while. You can probably come see her after dinner." With that rather obscure warning, the nurse walked down the hall, the stretcher following her like an obediant dog.

As soon as the nurse was out of earshot, James leaned back against the wall and sighed, "God, do I hate lying." Glancing at his friends, James rubbed his head where he had bumped it, not sure which time he had gone to the floor that he sustained the injury, "I guess we better do what she said, we are already going to be in enough trouble as it is over this."

The four of them hurried off to their next class, just making it to their seats as the professor entered the room. Thankfully, they were in Charms with Hufflepuff and the ensuing chaos that was Charms allowed them to have a hasty conference in the back of the room. Remus was the first one to speak, a strange light glinting in his eyes, "Why didn't you tell the nurse that it was that Ratbastard that cursed Lily, James?"

James glanced down at the floor, then up at the ceiling, as if looking for an answer to the question himself, "I don't know." He finally said, a triffle sheepishly, "I mean, it's not her problem that we can't get the Slytherins to leave us alone." Almost as if he was reading the protest forming in Remus' mind, James added hastily, "I know that the Ratbastard crossed a line, with Snivilus looking on like usual, but, I don't know, what if we started a school enquiry if we tattled? I mean, the four of us aren't exactly saints, you know?"

With a rather odd expression on his face, Sirius nodded, in complete accord with James, "He is right, you know. Just think what would happen to us if they found the map, for example." Or the other thing the three of us have been working on, he thought very quietly to himself, "I mean, I know I sometimes give the appearance of not giving a rat's ass about this place...

"Hey, who are you..." Peter, who had just barely been paying attention, caught the word rat and chimed in until James stepped on his foot, hard, with a meaningful look in his eyes. Peter flushed guiltily and shut his mouth, turning back to watch the professor demonstrate the wand movement again.

Sirius continued speaking urbanly, as if he had never been interupted at all, "because I don't care if my mother ever makes good on her threats and tries to pull me home. Note that I did say tried, there, she would have a real fight on her hands if she came here with that intention." Sirius ran a hand through his hair, thinking about what he wanted to say, "The point I am trying to make is that I don't want to get thrown out of Hogwarts, especially not for something that the adults don't need to know about. I mean, who is to say that we even get a fair hearing? The map alone is enough to get us expelled, no questions asked."

Remus nodded slowly, "Alright, I can see that." He said finally, not looking to happy with himself for agreeing to this course of non action, "But, still, we have to do something about this or it is just going to get worse. I mean, it's bad enough that Lily is in the hospital because of us, indirectly at least. The only thing is that I have no idea what to do other than tell Dumbledore." His shoulders slumped slightly as he thought that option through, "And that would serve nothing than getting us all expelled." 

"Don't worry, mate." Sirius said, punching Remus lightly on the arm, "We aren't the Mauraders for nothing. We will figure something out."

Later that night, at dinner, James received a note from the school nurse stating that Lily would be up for visitors as soon as dinner was over. He wasn't sure if he wanted Sirius, Remus, and Peter there, not after what Lily whispered to him in the hallway before the Ratbastard knocked her out, but the decision was removed from his hands when Sirius snatched the note from his hands. The four of them traipsed upstairs to the infirmary as soon as dinner was finsihed, not sure of what they were going to find there.

In the meanwhile, Lily woke in the hospital with the nurse hovering over her and a headache that threatened to split her brain in two. "What happened?" She whispered as she tried to sit up, only to still with a gasp of pain.

The nurse gently pushed her back down, "Stay still, Miss Evans." She pursed her lips and looked into Lily's eyes, trying to see if her pupils were dialating or if she was still in shock, "Whoever hit you with whatever spell that was did a number on some of your bones. I have given you a couple of draughts that will fix it but they will take a little bit of time. And, you noticed the headache, I assume?" The dry look the nurse gave her allowed Lily to crack a tiny smile, "Concussion, probably from smaking your head into the floor. In a few hours, you will be right as rain."

The light in the room seemed to be needling it's way into Lily's brain, she closed her eyes with a wince, "That cannot come soon enough." She whispered feverantly as the nurse moved off, feeling like her insides were mashed potatoes at this point. Not a good sensation when your insides are supposed to feel like bones and organs, at any rate.

A quiet knock on the door a little while later shook Lily out of her dark thoughts and she carefully glanced over to see James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus poking thier heads around the curtain about her bed. Closing her eyes at the onslaught of pain the miniscule movement brought her, Lily asked, "What do you want?"

If James was a bit taken aback by her surly greeting, no sign of it crossed his face, "We just came to see how you are doing." He said casually, leaning against the wall above the bed, "I know that was a nasty shot the Ratbastard caught you with."

Lily sighed and thought about taking James to task, "Don't swear, Potter. Otherwise, I have to take points from Gryffindor. And ?I assume that we are in enough trouble over this as it is."

The Mauraders shared a quick glance between them, communicating silently, "Ah, as to that, Lily," Remus said carefully, having been appointed spokesperson for the group with a glance from James, "Ah, no one knows exactly what happened and we, ah, kind of need to keep it that way."

"What, exactly, do you mean by that?" Lily hissed back at Remus, opening her eyes wide and staring him down, "Hell, Remus, you are a Prefect. You know what has to be done." Glaring at James, Lily addressed her comment to Remus, "I could expect this of Potter and Black but you, Remus?" Growing more and more agitated as she spoke, Lily tried to sit up and fell back on her pillows with a hiss of pain.

Instantly, James dropped his casual pose and reached down to steady Lily so that she was in a controlled fall back down to the bed. With a jerk of his head, he sent the other three Mauraders out of the room. Waiting until they were gone, he knelt by Lily's bedside, and took her unresisting hand in his, "Lily, look at me." The command in his voice was more than she could ignore and she turned her head to face him, a tear rolling down to her pillow. That tear undid him, "We never ever meant for you to get hurt, Lily. You know that."

Lily closed her eyes once more, pain etched into her face, "But I did get hurt, James. Again." She was tiring visibly, going white under the strain of talking to him, "It seems to me that we just had this conversation the other day. Even when you try to walk away, you can't. You are going to have to finish what you started, no matter who gets hurt in the process."

Reaching out with one finger, James touched the tear shimmering in Lily's eye and tried to think of something to say. Finally, after a long silence, he settled for raw honesty, "I don't know what to say to that, Lily. I tried to walk away this time, you saw me do it. I don't know what else I can do about this whole mess." Dropping his head down to hers, resting his forehead on hers, James added, a touch hoarsly, "I just don't want to see you get hurt anymore. Not at my expense." 

Lily opened her eyes and stared at James for a long second. Whatever she saw there resolved some inner conflict and she nodded, slowly so as not to jar her head. "I believe you." She whispered, pausing long enough for some indescribably happy emotion to fill James to the brim before dashing them again, "And, because of that, you have to stay away from me, James. As far away as we can be, otherwise," she indicated the hospital with a nod, "I will just end up here again."

James opened his mouth to protest that no, she would not, but shut it again when she pierced him with one of her looks. Nodding slowly, he rose to his feet and smiled tiredly down at her, "If that is you wish, then?" Damn, he had not meant for that to sound like a question but there it was...

"That is my wish." Lily said firmly, or tried to. A tear running down her cheek gave lie to her words and to her tone, "Stay away from me, James, and tell the others to do the same." Closing her eyes once more, she did not see the anquished look James shot her nor the sorrow on his face as he reached out to stroke her hair with a tremoring hand, "Don't."

James pulled his hand away from Lily's hair with real reluctance and nodded, "If it is your wish, I will obey." Walking away from her took everything he had and he struggled the entire way with his very base urge to throw himself at her feet and beg her not to do this. Why on earth he would feel this way for this smidgeon of a red head was entirely beyond him...but he could not deny what he felt. Pausing at the door, he glanced back at Lily, lying so pale and still on the bed with tears rolling down her cheeks. His heart twisted in his chest and James knew that he would not be able to do as she wished. Needing to affirm that to himself, if no one else, he whispered, "For now." before he walked out of the infimary. 


End file.
